Latin names: Father (Genitor) · the Lowest Point of the Heavens (Imum Coeli).
Greek name: Subterraneous (Υπογειον — Hupogeion).
Arabic name: House of Parents (بيت الوالدين — Bayt al-Wālidayn).
Alternative names: the Angle of the Earth · the House of Parents · the North Angle.
House type: cardinal (angle).
Mundane Planetary Ruler: A Sun.
Direction: north.
Upon reaching maturity and gaining a basic understanding of the world, a man begins to take up the family trade and find his place in society. In traditional societies the social order was strictly hereditary and caste-bound. A man born to blacksmiths became a blacksmith; one born to weavers became a weaver. The family craft and lineage fixed a man’s starting point for life.
The tenth house signifies the highest rank and accomplishments attainable in society. It rests upon the fourth house—lineage, family, inherited station. Thus the fourth house denotes the ancestral seat and all that pertains to it:
- the father’s house, ancestral lands, homeland, fatherland (foreign countries belong to the ninth house);
- the family as bloodline, both parents, the querent’s ancestors;
- landed estates (including orchards, gardens, all that grows thereon, even a plant in a pot) and any real property (including property situated abroad).
If the tenth house is the house of judges, the opposite fourth house shows the result of their labour:
- the pronounced verdict, the court’s final decision;
- the prognosis of illness and bodily condition (the physician’s prescription belongs to the tenth house as the derived second from the ninth—benefit rendered by a man of learning).
Geometrically the fourth and tenth houses occupy the lowest and highest points of the figure. Hence the fourth house governs:
- low ground, everything subterranean or concealed beneath the earth: cellars, wells, graves, hidden treasure, mines, pits, tunnels, bunkers, underground metro stations, bomb shelters, fallout shelters, nuclear weapon storage facilities, underground vaults, secret subterranean passages, buried pipelines, cave systems used for storage or concealment, and any other hidden or buried structures below ground level;
- lost objects (jointly with the second house)—those that have “vanished into the ground.”
While the tenth house is traditionally assigned to the mother, the opposite fourth house belongs to the father. The family trade and customs passed chiefly along the male line. Hence the terms “paternal house” and “fatherland.” Accordingly the fourth house indicates the father as bearer of lineage and seed (or the stepfather).
Common Errors
Fourth House as the “End of All Matters”
Certain astrologers and geomancers wrongly take the fourth house for the ultimate conclusion of every action, the place of death and interment. The phrase “the end of the matter” (used in older English translations of traditional texts) signifies not merely “end of things” but also “issue of the matter,” “result of proceedings,” “judicial sentence.” This longstanding mistranslation of old sources still breeds numerous mistakes.
Fourth House as the “House of the Mother”
Ancient authorities show no disagreement on this point. By archetype the transmission of family craft and station followed the father’s line—hence the fourth house pertains to the father. Modern psychology, however, maintains that the chief foundation for elevated social standing (tenth house) is most often established through the primary bond with the mother.
Fourth House as a “Place of Leisure”
The function or purpose of the property makes no difference whatsoever. Regardless of whether the house is used as a primary residence, a family inheritance, or purely as a country retreat or place for rest and relaxation, it still belongs to the fourth house—not to the ninth (voyages, holidays, long-distance travel) nor to the fifth (places of enjoyment, amusement, and diversion).
Examples of Fourth House Questions
- Is my land fertile?
- Will I find water if I dig a well on the plot?
- Is there buried treasure on this land?
- Why are my houseplants failing to thrive?
- Will I sell my house soon?
- Is my father ill?
- What is my sister’s financial situation? (The sister is the third house; her money is the derived second from the third, hence the fourth house.)
Quotes on the Fourth House
Every line is constituted by two pillars: one the pillar of elevation and the other the pillar of the depth. Therefore it is said that these pillars signify the parents.
The ancients held that the fourth house signifies the father and the tenth the mother, whereas Ptolemy reversed this. The ancients, however, are correct, for the sign of the mother must be visible.
Because the fourth house is the most hidden of all, it signifies treasures, storehouses, treasuries, and everything concealed. And since it is the last of the pillars, it signifies the end of every matter and the grave in which a person is buried. It also signifies lands, houses, and fields.
The tenth house signifies great authority, because it is the highest of the pillars. It also signifies the craft or profession through which a person becomes known and by which his name is mentioned.
A planet in the fourth house is like a person in the house of his ancestors or in the land allotted to him.
By the fourth, which is called the House of Parents, we judge of fathers, houses, lands, and ancient heritages (but not always of those that are dead), and of gardens, waters, woods, pastures, etc., and all things immovable, as castles and other such things, and what may happen after death. By the same we also gather a certain and true judgment of hidden treasures and all things hidden in the earth, and finally of the end of all things.
The fourth house signifies the querent’s father; it also signifies lands, houses, orchards, inheritances, tillage of the earth, and the quality and nature of the ground enquired after. It has signification of minerals, hidden treasures, etc., also of towns, cities, or castles besieged, and all ancient houses and gardens; and the end of all things. From this house also is judgment given of reports or common rumours, whether they be true or false. Of man’s body it governs the breast and lungs.
It gives judgment of fathers in general, and ever of the father of him that enquires or is born; of lands, houses, tenements, inheritances, tillage of the earth, hidden treasures, the determination or end of any thing; towns, cities or castles, besieged or not besieged; all ancient dwellings, gardens, fields, pastures, orchards; and the quality and nature of ground one purchases, whether vineyards or cornfields, whether the ground be woody, stony, or barren… It rules the breast and lungs.
