Secrets of the 3rd House: The Joy of Adventure and Pleasure
This is part 1 and summary of my a talk from the Sedona Vedic Astrology Conference:
Vedic astrologers usually lump the third house into younger siblings, artistic expression, and communication, but it has deeper spiritual and psychological depths that is not discussed enough. John Frawley writes of the 3rd house:
“Of all the houses of the astrological chart, it is probably the third house that arouses the least interest. In most birth-chart readings it will be quietly skated over, as the astrologer can usually find nothing there that warrants closer examination.”
- 3rdHouse is 12thfrom the 4th house of mental happiness and peace.
- That is a clue that is connected to the unconscious or primal mind.
Study a weak planet in the 3rd house that will become a constant source of mental troubles and depression and headaches. Debilitated planets connected here will feel that they are killing you. (We will discuss this more in Part 2)
Yet the third house is very profound. It is most connected to Mars and it is where we find our courage to express our self-willed interests and move toward our individuality. It is a kama house, a house of desire, where we sometimes exert our raucous sexual energies and fight with our siblings to exert our Martian prowess and exert our ego. It helps us develop and establish our integrity and personal strength. The 3rd house enables us to exert our will in an effort to shape our world, to move forth and to conquer while exerting our ingenuity. It supports us with the courage to go forth in the world, to communicate, be curious, and to dance in the complex world of human development. It is a place where we learn to live in the world.
The karaka for the third house is Mars, which is connected to courage, siblings, and adventure. It is through sibling rivalry and fighting with our brothers and sisters that we learn to exert our own individuality, individuate our egos, and become who we are. The third house is a growth house because it tests our drive to fight for who we are and what we believe; to stand up for ourselves – to move forth in the world.
The third house is also connected to kama, desire, and fun; hence it is connected to casinos, boudoirs, bars, workshops and includes the athletic playing field where we go to have a good time.
It is a place of raw energy where “boys will be boys.” It is a place where we love games, the joy of writing, celebrate learning, finding new interests, and of expanding our Martian search for adventure and recreation. It is a place of adolescent fun and youthful folly wherein we may get into trouble while satisfying our momentary desires. In a sense, it is a very immature place but it forces us to test who we are and to find our place in the world. When it is afflicted, it can bring out selfishness, lust, and aggression – the dark side of Mars. The 3rd house has an important Mercurial component where we love to debate and get into arguments. It also hosts our expression and individuality in writing. It is a place of creativity where we can explore the beauty of language and the wonder of making words and acquire new mastery of expression.
In the 3rd house, self-expression and excellent mastery may manifest through singing, dancing, painting, playing of instruments, the domains of performance and fine arts, and so the 3rd house is also celebrated as a house of creativity and the artist.
The 3rd house is a place of neighbors and the neighborhood. Sometimes we have to fight for our territory and our rights, as I remember all too well when I lived in Sedona and the neighbors would report us if we left our garbage can on the curb an extra day or had too many friends over in the house and created parking problems. With a positive 3rd house, we learn and grow from our neighbors, and they contribute much to our life by sharing their gifts with us providing friendship and being there for us in times of need. Mastering the 3rd house of neighbors means turning our enemies into our friends.
Planets in the 3rd house:
Most of the time planets have some dosha or affliction even if there is some dignity by sign placement. This may happen from a malefic aspect or conjunction or association or from a connection with a difficult nakshatra or from a depositor that is poorly placed. The more challenging qualities are listed below:
The Sun in the 3rd house loves sports and competition and derives great satisfaction by doing and achieving. If afflicted, ego problems like Mars by pushing too hard frictions with siblings or neighbors; pitta problems and too much restlessness and not holding still.
The Moon in the 3rd house brings emotional restlessness if afflicted and an inability to focus on action as the fickle mind wanders. The mind may have trouble on focusing, have a wild imagination; can’t plan well ; has too much moving and traveling; may speak too much or too little.
Mars can be too strong in the 3rd house and may create major problems with siblings and ruthlessness. 3rd house Mars may instill a love of sports and competition, while leading to major clashes of ego. You do not want Mars in the 3rd house because it will create too much Martian adventure energy for violence or sexual conquest.
Mercury in the 3rd house with dignity brings greatness with communication, great intelligence but the inability to focus, as one flits from problem to problem. When afflicted, it loses the big picture; too detailed; spends too much time reading and thinking; creates mind full of chatter; a worrywart and vacillates too much.
Jupiter Jupiter falls out of favor here and is the weakest placed planet and is considered Marana Karaka Sthana. Jupiter in the 3rd house moves out of dharma and its natural quest for higher wisdom and instead falls into sexual play, laziness, and lack of motivation. May have a tendency toward low energy or laziness if afflicted.
Venus: When powerful in the third house it shows interest in art, dance, creativity, relationships, and beauty. With the 3rd house being a desire house and a place of sexual expression, Venus can also get lost here in too much recreation and sexual self-indulgence. Venus may create people who are too nice and unable to stand up and fight for themselves or hold their ground.
Saturn in the 3rd house may create people who are too practical and conservative and not able to venture forth with Martian adventure — fearing conflict and embarrassment. It may be too fearful or caught up in the survival energy of the reptilian brain and hesitate and become immobilized from taking action and be unscrupulous and unconscious about those around and insensitive.
Rahu if strong in dignity in like in Taurus, Gemini or Aquarius and unafflicated does well in the third house where it enhances creativity and gusto for life through play and experimentation. Still without an dignity, Rahu here can lead to sexual conquesting and over-indulgence.
Ketu when strong in the 3rd house brings an urge to present ideas to others in ways that fascinates and creates great influence around them. Politicians often have this placement like Bill Clinton. Still Ketu when affflcited may lack of determination; be inconsistent; scattered and tries to do too much or has a tendency toward mental imbalances.
The cure for problems with the 3rd house is that we have to nourish it regularly, clean and refresh it, block the chatter and gossip of neighbors, exert our own power, and rediscover our sense of adventure.
The 3rd houses teaches us to fight, stand up for what is right, and move with courage to learn, to grow, and to experience personal joy. There is the great celebration of adolescent youth here when Mars expresses itself into the world, which leads to a trajectory of adventure and pleasure.
It reminds me of one of my favorite novels by Saul Bellow, Henderson the Rain King. In the novel, a Connecticut millionaire realized the fruitlessness of his life and collecting material things and goes off on a quest to discover himself. He helps a tribe in Africa and becomes “lionized” and when he returns he feels like a changed man. As he lands in Newfoundland at the airport, he proclaims – “I felt like running, running, leaping through cool arctic airs of silence.” This is the kind of joy that 3rd house adventure can bring – a sense of bravo, gusto, and joy in living if we complete our quests. Look for Part 2 on Sunday.
My new book has over 50 pages and 16 articles on the Secrets of the Houses and the pdf version is available to download now for 19.95 and the Amazon version will be available in a 276 page hardcopy editon by Dec. 6th.
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19.95 for color pdf download; soon on Amazon black and white hard copy for 24.95.
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The book is accessible for people who do not know much about astrology and is meant for a larger audience and only small parts of it are technical .
SUMMARY:
The deepest purpose of astrology should allow us to see the Maya or illusion that runs through our mind and blocks us from seeing our own Divinity. Astrology should reveal our hidden patterns and not just affirm what we know about our self already. It is our hidden patterns and blind spots which get us into the most trouble and cause us the most suffering. It takes courage to look at them, bring them into the light and transforms them but that is why we are on the planet. It is much like Bill Murray in Ground Hog Day (1993). How many times do we have to repeat our lives and relive our pain or do we realize our flaws and actively work on them and transform ourselves into a more conscious and active and loving and compassionate person. In this brilliant collection of essays divided into 7 sections, Psychological and Emotional and Spiritual Dimensions of Vedic Astrology, Secrets of the Houses, Blind Spots. Spiritual Astrology, Relationship and Techniques, Barry reveals material beyond the ordinary in unveiling our True Self beyond the illusion. The great spiritual teacher Yogananda was fond of saying that most of what we call the spiritual battle is really a psychological battle and once that battle is won, the spiritual battle is a short one. This book aims to support you in deep spiritual growth with profound psychological insight.
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Will be sent within 24-48 hours via Dropbox.
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For those of you who have not taken my transit class, we have updated it to 8 lessons which will be broadcast live, Saturdays starting Jan. 19th. Save now with early bird registration.
SECRETS OF TIMING YOUR LIFE:
Module 1
TRANSITS and PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
LIVE WEBINAR
MINI-COURSE
8 Weeks : Live Saturdays, Jan. 20-March 9nd 12-2 pm CST.
This seminar is designed for students of Vedic astrology who know the basics and seek to unfold some secret insights into timing your own life and others life. Module 1 goes into deep insights into transits. Having observed transits for 25 years, I have seen how major events unfold and how to time daily events and plan things appropriately. The class is a unique blending of experience and teaching students simple techniques to observe their charts, the world and how karma unfolds and things happen. One can then plan ones week and month a bit better. Rather than planning a picnic when a tornado is hitting, wait for the clearer weather. This is a 4 class expansion from my original course and provides more advanced knowledge and depth.
For questions, email barry@appliedvedicastrology.com. Email for special invoicing if you do not use PayPal. Basic knowledge of Vedic Astrology is required. Early reading list and extra videos and study lists will be available to supplement and allow us to go deeper in class.
Weeks 1: Transits and Your Chart: Timing Key Events with Transits of Dasha Lord, Ascendant Lord, and Transits to Key Natal Planets in Your Chart and Daily and Weekly Events (2 hours)
Week 2-3: Understanding Retrogrades, Combustion, Exalted and Debilitated Planets and Planetary Aspects
Week 4: Panchanga: Understanding the Impact of Tithi, Nithayoga, Karana and Nakshatra on Daily Experience
Week 5: Secrets of Nakshatras Transits and Navatara
Week 6: Transit through Nakshatras using Savrabhadra Chakra and Understanding Tarabala.
Week 7: Advanced Transits: Eclipses, Outer Planets (Neptune, Uranus, Pluto) , Secrets of Sade Sat, Advanced rules of Rahu/Ketu and Jupiter. (2 hours)
Week 8: Ashtakavarga and Vedha and Refining Transit Predictions
Course Integration: Intergrating Dashas and Transits.
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