From Self-Knowledge to Prosperity: The 2nd House in Holistic Astrology
A holistic look at prosperity and personal values - Podcast transcription + VIDEO
Podcast Transcription
The 2nd House, this area within the natal chart, is so important for each one of us. There we can see what resources are available to us to be able to face any eventuality that arises in our lives and thus be able to move forward.
It's true that within traditional astrology, we call the 2nd House the house of money and possessions. And of course, it makes sense, since having money enables us to acquire what we need in any eventuality.
However, when we see the 2nd House as a space where we look for whether we will have money or not, whether we will be able to pay our bills, and whether we will achieve material security, we are actually using astrology as an oracle.
In reality, the natal chart is not a divination tool but a map of our essential geometry which describes potentialities, challenges, and the multidimensional reality of our being.
The 2nd House specifically describes the personal resources we have access to in order to provide for ourselves and to be able to self-sustain. At a cultural level, many of us are completely invaded by goals and paths to follow that do not correspond to our inner truth, but rather are products of cultural processes and even spiritual concepts about what money, work, or success are. This is how we have followed paths that are not our own, which have forced us to develop skills that do not naturally arise from within us. These paths are paved with notions acquired through our ancestors, our parents, or our culture.
This is not to say that we do not need parental guidance or that ancestral, cultural, or spiritual inheritances are incorrect, but rather that sometimes they are paths that reflect a reality different from our own and do not correspond to our present or personal preferences.
We learn through imitation and generally follow the rhythms of our environment. This often causes us to disconnect from our personal truth. When this happens, we begin to feel some type of shame or guilt or even fear of following the call of our instinct - which is what the 2nd House truly represents.
The 2nd House is related to Taurus. Taurus is the second sign of the zodiac, an earth sign, and fixed. Taurus (and by analogy the 2nd House ) speaks of material security and connection with the body, with matter, and with everything that represents the physical world.
Taurus makes us aware of the existence of the material world. We are talking about sensations, the ability to perceive our material needs. This is one of the basic perceptions of living beings. If one is thirsty, one drinks. If one is hungry, one eats. If one is cold, one covers up. We are talking about a physical reaction that does not involve much analysis.
Depending on the sign in which our 2nd House is located, we will have different attitudes on this topic.
The 2nd House in Fire signs (Aries, Leo, or Sagittarius) indicates that action is what allows us to sustain ourselves.
On the other hand, if we have 2nd House in Earth signs (Taurus, Virgo, or Capricorn), it is the method, patience, and persistence that allow us to have a satisfying material life.
If we have the 2nd House in Air signs (Gemini, Libra, or Aquarius), it is our ability to socialize that provides us with material security.
Finally, for Water signs (Cancer, Scorpio, or Pisces), it is the ability to connect with others that provides material well-being.
Each of these four elemental ways is instinctively awakened in the 2nd House and allows the individual to know what they have to do to survive, without thinking about it.
Often, our instinctive strength has been devalued because it is not akin to the energy of the environment.
Let's take as an example two people (one with the 2nd House in Virgo and the other in Aries) who live together. The first focuses on improving their personal resources. They value attention to detail. The second values the inspiration that leads them to act spontaneously. Here we find two ways of instinctively reacting to the search for material security that can conflict if both parties do not recognize these differences as natural. Although each person's attitudes are beneficial to themselves, they can create anxiety and even a lack of confidence in the other.
That's why it's so beneficial to understand the manifestations of each sign. If someone doesn't act as we would or if they insist that we should do something that doesn't feel true to ourselves, the instinctive expression of the 2nd House can be inhibited and, consequently, difficulties arise in providing material security.
We can also take into account the modalities:
The 2nd House in a Cardinal sign (Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn) indicates individuals who tend to be proactive when it comes to issues of subsistence.
Fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius) tend to seek constancy and stability.
Mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces) tend to be more versatile.
And as you can see, I haven't talked about money or possessions yet, but really about attitudes. For this same reason, the 2nd House is intimately linked to self-esteem. If our way of approaching our subsistence is in some way judged by our environment, we can carry a negative self-image regarding our ability to self-sustain. As a result, we begin to have money problems, and self-esteem problems, and we stop following our instincts and do what we believe is best according to the feedback we receive from the external world.
So... how do we solve these situations? From my point of view, I believe that before we can move forward, we have to work on these self-esteem issues through awareness of these differences. In that sense, it's quite simple. We need to explore the doubts we have about our own worth. And studying the natal chart of our parents, siblings, and grandparents can give us great information about the personal values of our environment and how we have fit into them. We all have personal resources and we all have the ability to self-sustain. In fact, we all have a 2nd House!
The presence of certain planets in this house, such as Pluto for example, indicates a great capacity for self-transformation as a personal resource. But of course, it also indicates that this is a capacity that we need to know and learn to use. Therefore, Pluto will attract material situations to our reality that help us develop it, which sometimes manifest as material crises that unearth talents we didn't know we had.
If instead, we have Uranus, we can count as a personal resource the ability to innovate. We want to progress and that triggers sudden changes that open up new spaces to create it. However, when we are not aware of this energy, we can also feel like victims of circumstances since, in our reality, situations manifest themselves in a way that somehow destabilizes us and takes us out of routine. And that's how it is, Uranus wants to progress.
Planets in our 2nd House represent specific personal resources, and when we are not aware of them, we can believe that the circumstances we go through on a material level arise randomly. In reality, it is ourselves who create them from the energies of our planets in the 2nd House when they act from our unconscious.
The 2nd House without planets does not indicate that material security is not important to us, but simply that it is not a particularly prominent area of life within our whole being. Other areas will be active. However, the ruling planet of the 2nd House and its position by sign and house can give us a lot of information about our relationship with instinct and material security. The astrological house where it is located (the corresponding life area) directly influences our ability to self-sustain materially.
Personal resources are truly limitless and do not depend on the 2nd House. The 2nd House shows us our approach when using them.
Those of us who live in societies where life is organized in a more or less stable way and where minimal material security (housing and food) is accessible, may have more difficulties with the 2nd House than those who are forced to fight for survival. Why? Because we have a source of energy that we do not use. Then we can believe that we need "adversity" to be able to unleash our potential.
This is a deeply rooted belief within our culture. In reality, what happens is that we have an intuition that we have a much greater potential than what we are currently using. So, we unconsciously generate different crises in our lives to be able to unfold it. Without realizing it, we recreate adverse situations because, at a conscious level, we are only able to see the Saturnine structure in which we were born - that is, a reality with certain rules, responsibilities, and pre-established goals. So, we have no choice but to recreate adverse situations to activate our instinct and discover our personal resources.
Is there another way to do it? Of course! We only need to look at Steve Jobs or Elon Musk to see how far a person can go who doesn't waste time going in circles without knowing where to direct their talents. And the countless human beings of whom we don't have information!
But as I said at the beginning, the path of the 2nd House requires trust in our own abilities, and for that, we need to learn to follow our own instinct and let go of what does not correspond to our personal values. Then, once we achieve this, we will gradually gain confidence. I don't know how many of you are familiar with Tarot decks. For me, the planets of the 2nd House resemble the Major Arcana "Strength". There, we see a lion and a woman. The lion represents instinctive strength, and the woman represents the strength of consciousness. Consciousness, with gentleness, tames the lion, and thus, the lion learns to use its instinctive strength with conscious direction.
Believing that we should know how to do things "right" from the beginning of our lives is basically absurd... it's like believing that we should be born already knowing how to ride a bike! Both humans and other species go through the same process. The difference is that other species are more connected to their instincts. Not being connected to our instincts doesn't make us "superior" but, on the contrary, creates an internal mismatch and a great unconsciousness about our animal nature, which acts automatically and is only dedicated to seeking food and shelter.
I'm not saying that this is negative - in fact, it's fundamental and represents the basis of survival. However, human potential is much greater!
Anyway, I think it's necessary to stop judging ourselves if we haven't been able to move beyond the most basic level of survival. In fact, being able to provide for oneself is already a talent. Moreover, it is the basis of the ability required both to get the next meal and to build a rocket to go to Mars.
We could see ourselves as cosmic engineers who have incarnated to understand what it is to live on Earth. Or at least, that's what the 1% of Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) seems to indicate, which has created that divergence we have with other primates. Because, although some may doubt it... we are 99% primates.
Even though in the 21st century, we have developed various possibilities that allow for subsistence based on our particular talents, there is still much to be done in this regard. There is still a strong tendency to govern society in a generalized way - that is, as if it were a herd. Therefore, many times we have to mold ourselves to what is expected of us and not necessarily develop our own essential geometry. And in fact, as we begin to develop as individuals, we no longer see social animals like cows or sheep (which are very happy living in herds) as if they had no individuality.
With the transit of Pluto in Capricorn, we are going through a transformation where the focus is on recognizing internal authority which makes us the captains of our own reality. Of course, it should also be remembered that Pluto has already been in Capricorn 248 years ago. And it also visited that sign 248 times before 1777. From astrology, we see this as an evolutionary process that repeats periodically. That is, although it may be difficult for some to believe, we are not at the pinnacle of human civilization. As a species, we are in a constant state of evolution. It is possible that in 248 years, future humans will see us as quite backward.
Our personal resources are conditioned by the time and place in which we were born. In the 2nd House, we connect with instinct and it adapts according to the world around us. For example, if we are farmers, we know that in order to survive, we need to plant, cultivate, and harvest to get through the winter. In contrast, if we live in the city, what we need is money to be able to go to the supermarket - for example. Of course, the farmer must buy the seeds... that's why he sells his crops.
Nowadays, there are also self-sustaining communities that seek to live without money. However, if the relationship we have with money is one that produces pain or discomfort and therefore we decide that it is better to reject it, it is possible that it is a disconnection with the 2nd House. "Off the grid" communities generally seek to reconnect with the instinctive capacity for self-sustainability without being conditioned by cultural or corporate values ​​of society. Of course, there may be some that, like so many people, see money as something negative. In reality, money is a tool that has been used for subjugation in many cases. It is not money that produces pain, but the unconsciousness of those who use it in this way.
In any case, to understand the 2nd House, it is necessary to transform the concept of what it represents, "money and possessions". I am not against money, I simply want to emphasize that the attribution of the 2nd House to money is just one of the many manifestations of this area of life. In the 2nd House, we are talking about "values".
For example, for someone who has Venus in the 2nd House, grace and the ability to perceive beauty are personal resources that allow them to attract what they need in their life. That is their "money". If we suddenly find ourselves on a deserted island, money is not useful to us! So, Venus in the 2nd House can be seen as the ability to climb that palm tree without losing balance.
Another important aspect of the 2nd House is that it is a tremendously individual house. Here we say, "this is mine, it belongs to me". The recognition of our internal (and external) talents and resources is fundamental. Many people have this part of themselves a bit wounded for various reasons, as self-valuation is often seen as selfishness or vanity. However, being aware of our personal resources is the basis of self-esteem and what allows us to create the material security that helps us propel ourselves in life.
If we look at it in a metaphysical way, those individuals who only seek to accumulate great wealth are creating a balance of the energy of "mine". The fact that 1% of the population has the same amount of money as the other 99% speaks of an energetic equalization. Until the 99% believe they have the right to material comfort, the other 1% will continue to accumulate it to create this balance. I know it sounds very simplistic and even absurd, and it can anger someone... however, this is how squares and oppositions work in astrology.
At an evolutionary level, extremes will become increasingly intense (something very plutonic) until the 99% feels so oppressed that they instinctively feel entitled to a better quality of life. If, on the other hand, that 1% decides to give each of the 99% an iPhone and that's enough for us to feel better, then we are facing a new manifestation of "Enlightened Despotism", something that happened the last time Pluto transited Capricorn and Aquarius, with Catherine the Great being an example. Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette, did not follow this path.
And so inequalities have persisted for another 248 years everywhere, except in France (the last part is a joke).
So, investigating our 2nd House is a good way to reconnect with our personal values. If we have the 2nd House in Pisces, we value empathy and compassion. That's the capital of an Ascendant in Aquarius.
If, on the other hand, we have the 2nd House in Capricorn, our capital is an entrepreneurial spirit and great ambition, which provides resources for an Ascendant in Sagittarius to go on an adventure.
Aries values bravery but Cancer values love. And so on.
When we have material problems, when we go through difficulties to be able to survive on our own, observing the 2nd House compared to our personal reality can help us easily see how aligned we are with the energy of our essential self.
Note: The examples I gave in this article are just a partial look at all the possibilities we find in the 2nd House. There are countless possibilities just as there are countless perspectives.
Well, that's all for today. I hope you have enjoyed this information, this astrological way of seeing reality and I invite you to leave questions or suggestions for new topics to be discussed here on the podcast. This podcast is available on all platforms (Spotify, Apple, and Substack). And also on my YouTube channel.
Subscribe to my Substack "Astrology for The Everyday Mystic" where you can not only access the podcast but also read articles about astrology and above all, receive information about what's new on all platforms.
Thank you very much for being here and see you soon!