The Second House signifies loss and gain. There has been a tremendous emphasis on the Second House as ruling money — which is to be expected in a society dominated by consumerism. There are many Christians, Jews and Moslems in America, but the dominant religion of the USA is Money — this is the God with the greatest number of devotees.
But the Second House is far more than just money — it is our energy, and time, and most importantly, our values — whatever ideas and concepts we are attracted to and so deem to have worth.
These ideas we find valuable may be practical, or not. They may be notions and/or involvements which we feel have value but which others may deem to be worthless. Loss, ruled by the second house, may be voluntary, as it is when one freely gives something away, or it may be forced upon us by fate and circumstances. By the same token gain may be something we work to obtain, or may be something that happens without effort, something just laid in our lap. No matter how loss and gain happen in our lives, they are always karmic — we deserve what we get, or don’t get. There are no victims, and there are no winners who don’t deserve to win. This is the essence of Kabbalistic teaching.
In a sense, the Second House is the most Kabbalistic of them all, for Kabbalah means to receieve — TO GAIN. The question Kabbalah raises is, WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO WITH WHAT WE RECEIVE? There are two choices — keep it all, or at least as much of it as you can, for yourself. Or: Receive with the intent of sharing. It is this RECEIVING WITH THE INTENT OF SHARING that keeps the flow going — insures our further receiving from the Great Source. It is the EGO, living the illusion of being separated from the light that wants to keep as much as it can.
It is the God Within that shares. Sharing leads to enlightment. Greed leads to suffering. It is on this basic structure of these truths that the fabulous intricacy of the Kabbalah is embroidered.
Let’s start with Sun in Second House: What is most important in life to this person is to feel that they have something of value to give — that what they have is important. The great beauty of Sun in Second House is that this person has an inate ability to bring worth to light — to see the value in things which others may have overlooked.
The Sun always signifies the desire to set up hierarchies — that is, the desire to have what is most important at the center, and then to rank everything else around that in a spectrum that goes from what is most valuable to what is least. So long as what is at the center of Sun in Second Houses’s reality construct is positive, that is, spiritually viable, Sun in Second House will be a light to all around it, helping others to see their own value and worth, and the hidden gold all around them.
If Sun in Second House falls prey to the addiction of egotism, then their own selfishness becomes their center, and the whole goal of life becomes the attempt to convince everyone around them that they are better than everyone else, and that what they have is more important than anything else. This position can lead to arrogance about ones own values.
The big question here is, what is the nature of possession? Since we’re going to die, it seems that everything we might call our own is really only being rented for awhile. STEWARDSHIP means TAKING CARE OF WHATEVER COMES UNDER OUR SWAY OR JURISDICTION. Stewardship is a reality, ownership is an illusion. But if Sun in second house becomes lost in the illusion of its own ego, the responsibility of stewardship is lost.
Really its like this: The Greek and Roman astrologers called Saturn the greater malefic. But the Sun, when manifesting negatively is what I would call the GREATEST MALEFIC. It’s just energy. A lot of energy. And as you know, energy can be used to express love, and it can also be used to destroy the world. And it can never be said enough that the astrological chart does not show the person’s level of evolution. It can’t — for a cockroach and a human can have the same chart. So you, as an astrologer never know if a person is going to use their energy positively or negatively. You cannot tell from a chart how many past lives a person has had, and to what extent they have become wise from them.
Moon in Second house has, at its emotional center the need to be able to give and receive. The instability of the Moon creates, in this placement, a sense of fullness, at times, a feeling of abundance, and at other times a feeling of emptiness and/or loss, as well as potential fears of being abandoned by prosperity. The best way to handle Moon energy always is to let it flow, to stay open and connected. This person needs to share what they have, and they need to do so as they feel guided to. These cycles of emptiness and fullness that are felt need to be moved through easily and with relaxation, trusting always in the truth that whatever they need will come to them.
The Moon is always the energy in the chart where a person tends to be the most subjective, and hence have difficulty seeing objectively what is going on. Moon in Second may sometimes feel worthless, or at least underestimate what they have to give. Or they might overestimate their resources – all depending on their mood of the moment.
One thing you can be certain about with the Moon, though, is CYCLIC CHANGE. If this person is having financial problems, they could and probably will change rather soon. By the same token, when finances are going well, this also could soon change. With the Moon it is not easy to plan for the future, and so financial planning doesn’t come easily with this placement.
One of the finest things a person with Moon in second house can do is to use what they have to nurture other people.
In my next few postings I’ll talk about the rest of the planets in the second house.