The Eleventh House - Foreword

In the 1980s and 1990s, through client work undertaken in UK, it became very evident to me that the House of Aquarius was something of a dumb note in the consciousness of the English, perhaps because the English are first and foremost individuals who enter into intimate relationships and create families. In the UK, from 1970 onwards, the very concept of communality was somewhat tainted by associations with subversion, anti-authoritarianism and extremism by the association with hippy communes, squats and peace camps.

As an astrologer, one saw the occasional member of the armed forces and police force, people who had been at boarding schools, and public-spirited people who were involved in social welfare projects and politics, but in the UK there was no real awareness of communality as a way of life, and significantly, most with inner planets in H11 were juggling an uncomfortable portfolio of commitments, in which those of marriage and family life often existed in direct and often antagonistic relation to those of the groups to which a person belonged.

I noted that the relationships with the children were less problematic to my H11 clients than those with the partners. I also noted that parents with inner planets in H11, especially Venus, often withdrew emotionally from the marriage after the arrival of the children because, to put it bluntly, the children were now of greater interest. As parents, H11 people tend to be committed and encouraging of the younger generation.

In horary astrology, H11 denotes children after birth (fifth from seventh house); and I have always applied this line of reasoning to horoscopy: H5 is the house of children considered generically; of sexual activity; and of the conception of children. H11 is the house of one’s own children had with the partner (H7), and the way of the H11 person tended to align themselves with the children and create a team.

As they reached middle age, clients with Sun and/or inner planets in H11 tended to express in their reading sessions the feeling that something was missing from their lives, but they were unable to put their fingers on precisely what. Mostly, the missing ingredient was identified as a sense of purpose, understood in very basic terms as the opportunity to get together with other people and make a difference in the world. 
Nevertheless, those with inner planets in this house rarely expressed much awareness of the real importance to them of groups and communal activities; and with this lack of recognition came a lack of role models to direct attention to communality as a valid way of life, and the importance of idealism.

A number of my H11 clients worked in large corporations and enterprises with a strong group or public service ethic, but they lacked the sense that they were doing anything worthwhile. They were just doing a job.

I had other things as well to work out about H11 and the sign Aquarius, including why those with whom I dealt who had the Aquarian theme strong in their charts did not conform to the descriptions I had read in the books, written in the days when Saturn was considered to be the ruler, or at least the co-ruler of Aquarius, and from which I had learned astrology.

Once we moved into the 1990s, something else became apparent: the sheer numbers of babies being born with Sun in H11. I had not encountered this before. In 1990-1993, just about every chart I was asked to draw up for a baby had the Sun in H11.

Of course, I have no idea how representative was my client profile, but I consider it likely that from that time onwards there has been a significant increase in the number of individuals who, under Uranus’ influence, will realise early in life that their opportunity is to find their way on through communalistic lifestyles, and collective solutions. The children born in the 1990s are now young adults, and over the course of the next decade, we may see some expectations and enthusiasm for communalistic living develop significantly in Western societies.

I came to realise that at the close of the Twentieth Century, Aquarius was a sign in obvious transition.

We will look at this and its implications for H11 in this article.

The key to understanding H11 is the correspondence between the Soul and the group.
H11 is the house of the group and the group is the lower correspondent of the Soul. What does this mean?

It means different things to different levels of awareness, but common to them all is the desire to join forces with others in order to enjoy the experience and advantages of connectedness; and all are inspired by the idea of change reforming some aspect of our collective lives.

• To those who do not yet have the human soul in formation (i.e., have the sacral centre under control/First Initiation) Saturn is the ruler of Aquarius and in the interests of unity, integrity and manageability, Saturn imposes restraints upon those who would be members of a group or community. In return for enjoying the strength in numbers, there must be conformity of aim and method. It is this disciplining, controlling aspect of the group that the books that I read, written in the post-war years emphasise, and from it arises their description of those with Sun in H11 as being idealistic, altruistic, public spirited and lacking a strong sense of personal identity.
• To those who are individuals (i.e., with the human soul in formation) the Soul is that level of consciousness that makes us more than we are in a state of separation. Uranus as the ruling planet of Aquarius and the natural ruler of H11, encouraged likeminded people to band together in order to receive support, encouragement and direction as they contributed what they had to give. This mentality encouraged self-expression and a desire to be given recognition from the group, often through holding an identifiable role within it. In the 1990s I was meeting with people who wanted the recognition from the group, but had not yet discovered what they had to offer. Altruistic, public spirited and bland they were not! They were very ambitious for self. Uranus had lit up a new field for individuality to express itself in and Aquarians were picking it up. Humanitarian causes were replacing the traditional H11 commitment to philosophies and doctrines.
• To those who are connected to the Monad, the group is the vehicle into which seeds of new ideas that will unfold over time are dropped. The spiritual Soul is their source of inspiration.

When I was still quite new to astrology I read somewhere – in an article by Russell Grant, I think - that Aquarians are 60 years ahead of the rest of us. How true this is I still do not consider I can say, but I can see how 60 years could be taken as the span of a generation, which aligns Aquarians with the up-coming generation and puts them in the vanguard of social change.

By correspondence, therefore, the House of Aquarius is also connected with the next generation and this is born out by their interest in ideas, which will concern the future of our planet. The birth of children can radicalise an H11 parent, and bring out a dormant interest in group activity.

I have always found those with the Sun and inner planets in H11 more practical and grounded than Sun Aquarians. Many H11 people are involved in politics and pressure groups. Indeed without a strong H11 influence it is unlikely that an individual would last long in the political arena, which in the UK at least, no longer carries the social prestige that it once did.

The houses ruled by inner planets in H11 will indicate areas of life, which are informing an individual’s expectations of the group. The house placement of the planetary ruler of H11 will create a connection between group activity and a particular area of life. It is now less the case that the group imposes an agenda on the member, but that the members find a role for themselves within the group through which they direct its activities. This is due to the influence of Uranus.

• Those with the Sun in H11 work well in and are attracted to teams and groups, but it may be some considerable time before they realise just how crucially important they are to them.
• H11 confers the ability to think in larger wholes and paint on a large canvas. Those with Sun, Mercury and Venus in this house rarely have difficulty in reconciling the interests of an individual with that of the group, but will struggle to reconcile the demands of a close relationship with those of friendship; and they have a tendency to side with the children against the partner. In synastry, if one partner has inner planets in H11, and the other has inner planets in the houses of Relating consciousness (H5-H8), this will be a very uncomfortable match, unless the ruler of H7 is found in H11. Then group involvement or the children’s development into individuals act as a bond.
• Mars is interested in the advantages of group activity and pushes for a hearing, but struggles to accept any disciplines imposed, and relations with groups are likely to end in acrimony. The relationship with the children will be similarly fraught with conflicting interests.
• Jupiter like Venus gives a gift for friendship and makes friends of the children, but for the Jupiter individual the need for group involvement is an imperative. These individuals feel inspired and liberated by group energy and are directionless without it.
• Saturn in H11 produces a very real fear of the loss of self in the group that evokes the disciplining aspect of group membership. Those with this placement appear to be held by memory that they project onto every group situation, regardless of its quality or of the circumstances. Their dealings with organised groups are rarely satisfactory to either the individual or the group. They are wary, defensive and contribute little because they fear to be taken over and compromised, but strangely, they remain drawn to groups, as if questing for something that they cannot find. This placement produces difficulties in friendship and with the children.
• Uranus leads an individual to greater personal freedom through ideas and activities circulated by groups who make the individual feel stronger and more focused, although their adherence may be short-lived as Uranus is taking them on a journey and they are moving points. At some juncture in their lives, parents with Uranus in H11 will have a conscious decision to make about the extent to which they consider they can compromise their own freedom and opportunities to the demands of family.
• Neptune in H11 gives devotion to a cause and/or to the prospects of a child. Sacrifices will be made willingly. The ability to draw upon group energy can create powerful transmission situations, and is often present in the charts of inspirational public speakers and performers.
• With Pluto in H11 an individual is consciously ending one kind of group involvement in order to make way for another, different aspect of development. Often the affiliations that end involve authoritarian structures, belief systems, political parties, or corporate ethics that suppress individual expression. The sign and house placement of the Moon and Saturn will provide clues. Pluto can end group involvements and friendships dramatically when the individual is literally expelled or squeezed out.

• The orthodox planetary rulers of H11 are Saturn (Ray 3) and 
  Uranus (Ray 7); the esoteric ruler Jupiter

Suzanne Rough
DKF-K
April 2017