Seven
The Seventh House
House of Libra Element: Air
Ruling Planet: Venus
Area of Consciousness Relating
Awareness through Relating

Sun in Seventh House 7

The Sun in the 7th House indicates that consciousness is being balanced and expanded by interpersonal relating. The sign and position of the Moon will indicate whether the area of Relative consciousness is a new field of experience or whether there has been previous experience of relating but from a position of dominance or subservience. The 7th House experience leads a person eventually to accept nothing less than equality.

As the relationships he forms during his lifetime are the very means of his self-discovery it is common for a person with the Sun in H7 to start out with a very weak sense of identity. In his early years he commonly expe­riences difficulty in giving one lifestyle preference over another: intel­lectually he understands that, unless they involve the exploitation of others, they are equally valid. Often the way out of the impasse is to bring a sense of direction into his life by means of an ambitious partner whom he supports and, to an extent, gets an identity from. It will not be long however, before the influence of this area of the horoscope causes him to react against the inequality of the relationship and the expectations his partner has of him. Then he will strike out with a clearer sense of direction and purpose.

This process may have to happen a number of times before a 7th House person is able to define what he perceives himself to be. What he learns of himself through his experiences adds to his understanding of others: if he becomes aware of his own distinctiveness he has to acknowledge that of others; and if he acknowledges how different is the reality of each person then this calls into question the desirability of trying to fit with another in a binding, long-term commitment.

Surprisingly, perhaps, the Sun in the House of Venus may produce tolerant and reasonable people but it does not produce willing candidates for marriage. It is notable that 7th House people of both sexes tend to marry late - if at all. Women with the Sun in the H7, in particular, possibly as a reaction to experiences with dominant partners early in their lives, tend to feel that they stand to lose too much of themselves in a conventional marriage and become very self-sufficient.

People with the Sun in the 7th House tend to be happy in work in which there is plenty of scope for personal interaction, and in personnel, public relations and counseling work in particular. As teachers they tend to owe their effec­tiveness to their willingness to relate to their pupils as equals.

Mercury in Seventh House 7

Mercury in the 7th House with the Sun confers objectivity. This ready ability to see another’s point of view does not make it easy, however, for a person to define and promote his own stance, especially if this contravenes the interests and expectations of another. When Mercury is in H7 and the Sun in H6, then a person is more inclined to behave as an equal and expect equality in his dealings with others than if both are in H6. When Mercury is in H7 and the Sun in H8 a person is able to achieve a degree of detachment from his own emotional states. This combination, however, heightens a person’s sensitivity to the expectations of others and creates a correspondingly greater difficulty in defining and supporting his own stance.

Venus in Seventh House 7

With Venus in the 7th House a person feels a great need for a committed relationship in order to bring love into his life. With this placement there is frequently a marked lack of self-love: self-worth comes from being in a partnership. Venus in its own House is usually faithful and anxious to fulfill the partners expectations but the eagerness to get into a relationship may make a person indiscriminate in his choice and too willing to expect the formal trappings of marriage to be a substitute for true compatibility. In relationships of all kinds there is a tendency for the Venus person to place too much faith in the superficial indications of suitability. Yet no matter how many adverse exper­iences there may be, a person with Venus in H7 tends to keep alive the hope that he may one day meet his soul mate.

Mars in Seventh House 7

A person with Mars in the 7th House experiences difficulty in accepting that he could be self-sufficient and is driven therefore to seek out a partner, usually a forceful personality, to champion his interests and make things happen for him. In return for this service the Mars person will invest his energies in the relationship; should he feel, however, that the relationship is not serving his interests then he is likely to withdraw. Mars in the house of its Detriment puts relationships of all kinds under pressure because of the tendency of the Mars person to view his associates as agents for the ful­fillment of his own wishes. Moreover his attraction to forceful partners makes it likely that this behaviour will be met with anger and aggression. So acrimonious can be the scenarios that a person may eventually learn self-sufficiency as the result of a cynical withdrawal from relationship situations.

Jupiter in Seventh House 7

With Jupiter in the 7th House, a person tends to look to his partner to supply ex­perience and positive, directing energy. In his younger years the Jupiter person is likely to view himself as the junior partner who has much to learn about relationships and life from his associates, both intimate and non-intimate. The effect of Jupiter in H7 is not unlike that of the Sun in that it inclines towards a multiplicity of relationships as the didactic nature of the experience usually means that the associations are eventually outgrown and left behind. It is in the nature of Jupiter to understand this process, however, and a person with this placement is usually able to respect the partner both during and after the relationship.

Saturn in Seventh House 7

Saturn in the 7th House indicates that in the current lifetime partnerships will be a disciplining and restraining force.

It is this placement, rather than Venus or Jupiter in H7, as is so readily assumed, which manifests the marriage of longevity. A person with Saturn in H7 frequently makes a commitment to another relatively young in life and it is in the context of this relationship that his own development takes place.

Saturn in H7 is frequently found with the Moon in a fire sign or house, indicating that the past life experience has been self-expressive and un­constrained by responsibility to another. In the present lifetime commitments to associates, and to the marriage partner in particular, will give structure to the life. Unless Uranus or Pluto is in stressful aspect to Saturn, a person with this placement demonstrates a willingness to make his commitments legally binding so that his responsibilities are definable and difficult to avoid. It appears to be this tendency, given all that can result from litigation in the event of a break-up, be it of a marriage or a business association, which accounts for the view popularised by Sepharial, that Saturn in H7 signifies misfortune at the hands of partners. Whilst this placement means that partnerships will be a constraint on personal freedom it does not of itself indicate that the experience of the partners will be negative.

Uranus in Seventh House 7

Uranus in the 7th House is evidence of a developmental need to be freed from dependency upon another. This placement is commonly found with the Sun in H1 or H2, and the Moon in the sign Libra or one of the houses of Relative consciousness. By a miscellany of means, Uranus removes the partners should dependency develop. The principal targets of Uranian activity are the partnerships made in a person’s adult years, although the primary relationships of childhood may also be affected. As this placement of Uranus is so often found in charts which indicate that past life experience has been characterised by dependency, then it is often the case that a person with Uranus in H7 experiences much loss in his life as a consequence of repeating this way of relating.

Neptune in Seventh House 7

With Neptune in the 7th House a person has an idealised view of relationships and is willing to sacrifice much for his partner. With this placement there tends to be an attraction to people who are obviously needy, often as a result of drink or drug dependencies, and who are unable to return the devotion, which is given by the Neptunian. The Neptunian, however, has the satisfaction of believing that the relationship is saving his partner and has such a need to feel useful to another that the situation, far from being one-sided is more likely to be one of co-dependency.

This placement of Neptune is found in charts where there is evidence that past life experience was characterised by a way of relating which was either selfish or predatory.

Pluto in Seventh House 7

Pluto in the 7th House is an indication that the soul has been working, possibly over many lifetimes, to attain a balance between self and other: between being an individual whilst respecting the individuality of others. This balance will be achieved only when the soul has experienced the spectrum of relating possibilities, which has servility at one end and dominance at the other.

The situations, which Pluto will manifest in a person's life, will depend upon the nature of the relating experience with which the personality is required to deal. Whether Pluto in H7 manifests a partner with the power to transform a person’s perception of who he is or whether it takes away a controlling spouse, the experience will rank as the most significant of the lifetime.

Moon in Seventh House 7

The Moon in the 7th House is an indication that the past life experience has been one in which partnerships were integral to the development. The memory of having been one of a partnership is usually so strong that a person with this placement tends to demonstrate a precocious interest in the opposite sex and frequently makes an early marriage. Only the overall pattern of the chart will indicate whether this desire to settle into a committed relationship can be made part of the present lifetime or whether there is a developmental need to strike out alone in order to develop a new facet of consciousness. It is notable that many of the early marriages made by a person with a H7 Moon end after the Saturn Return and it is frequently the Moon person who, usually with much regret, initiates the separation because he is aware that he has other lifestyles to explore. These separations are commonly the cause of mutual regret because if the Moon person felt comfortable in the relationship situation the other party experienced him as a ‘good’ partner.

People with the Moon in H7 are likely to be born to parents who pulled together in their relationships and retained their enthusiasm for the partnership even after any early passion may have gone. People with the Moon in H7 tend to be comfortable in relating situations of all kinds from a very early age, and children with this placement may demonstrate a reluctance to develop capabilities, which could set them apart from their friends.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Of the twelve houses, the House of Libra appears to be one of the least well understood, probably because popular astrology tends to trivialise the sign Libra and because in the West we have assumptions about relationships, especially those involving intimacy, which are at odds with the experience of the 7th House. The 7th House is in the service of balance and understanding, not the Romantic ideal. In this house a person gains awareness about self and other through his relationship experiences; relation­ships are not an end in themselves. All the inner planets represent energies, which a person can find within himself: they do not have to be brought into his life by another. The fact that in reality this happens to any appreciable degree only when the Sun, the planet of consciousness, is involved, is an indication of the extent to which the Romantic ideal has us in its grip. Self-sufficiency is not, in general, highly prized.