on 12th house shrines

and why you should make one

🔔 book a reading in May! my calendar is open, and availability will be limited in June.

---

on Indie Bookstore Day, i (half) joked in a reel/tiktok that:

“you do not need to buy that book on amazon. you do not need to buy that disposable garment on amazon. you need to look at the ruler of your 12th house, and set up a shrine, and get your shit right.”

immediately comments requesting more info started rolling in, and baby, i deliver:

the purpose of setting up a shrine or altar for your 12th house ruler is to create a physical space to focus your intention to tend your inner world. but since nothing in a natal chart can be analyzed in isolation, let’s talk context.

not sure you want to subscribe yet but want to send me a thank you? send me a one time tip!

dire weapon of the tongue, which men revere, be present, Hermes, and thy suppliant hear;

the outward facing world: the ascendant/1st house

so much of astrology, whether its horoscopes, readings, or teachings, centers the ascendant or rising sign (and its ruler), and for good reason. the ascendant represents you, how you show up in the world and move through it, and your overall life direction. the ascendant is outward-facing, describing the parts of you that are most visible and legible to yourself and others. the 10th and 7th houses rank next on the visibility/legibility list, with the 11th, 9th, 5th, and 3rd also being generally outward-facing places in the chart.

but we all have parts of ourselves that we can’t quite seem to fit into our outward facing worlds. sometimes it’s the playful parts of ourselves that retreated when, as children, an authority figure told us it was “time to grow up” and “quit acting like a child”. for some of us, it’s the desire, passion, or anger we were told was impolite and inappropriate to express. and every single one of us has grief that spirals inside us long after the acute loss has been left behind by time. where do we put this twisting, breathing thing in a life that moves on? where do we put the fragments of ourselves we’ve nearly forgotten? where do the emotions go when we shove them down and away?

these parts of us that we push aside and the emotions we run from don’t just disappear—they go to the 12th house. many lie dormant, some fester, and others cloak themselves in fear and shame.

the inward facing world: the 12th house

if the ascendant/1st house is one of the main an outward-facing places in the chart, the 12th house is the core inward-facing place. this dark house and its ruler describe your inner world: a place inhabited by your deepest fears, tenderest longings, secret desires—all those emotions and parts of you that you can’t seem to fit into the outward facing parts of your life.

it’s extremely understandable that the 12th house does not feel like a pleasant place to visit, because oftentimes it’s not. and much of the time, we can get by just fine kind of letting the sleeping dog lie because unfortunately, many of us develop a large “12th house capacity”. it seems like wherever The Stuff goes when we shove down is a Mary Poppins bag. somehow, we can just keep going and going!

but i promise, your 12th house capacity is finite. you will hit your limit at some point, and when you do, the things that have been left to fester in your 12th house will start to spill over into the foreground of your life. into your outward facing world.

ignoring your 12th house is inadvisable, bestie

this is the “and get your shit right” part, but i want to be super clear about something up front:

if astrology reflects all of life’s myriad experiences, which i believe it does, it will always reflect both the good and the bad. and just like you can’t remove the 12th house from your chart, you can’t remove suffering from your lived experience. no amount of self-reflection and self-awareness will exempt you from feeling bad feelings, and no amount of 12th house work will eliminate the 12th house stuff that sucks. sometimes the 12th house will simply suck.

my goal is not to shame anyone for having not achieved total self-mastery. no one gets an A+ in self-reflection and graduates into total self-realization. my goal is to encourage you to consider being proactive about your 12th house, engaging that material before it jumps out on a regular tuesday and you suddenly find yourself sobbing in the bodega because you didn’t realize how much you’d been neglecting your own emotional needs.

i say this not because crying in the cereal aisle is bad or shameful (who among us has not cried at the grocery store), but because the experience of having your 12th House Stuff explode into your outward facing world is often absolutely wrenching, and leaves you feeling raw and exposed. at the worst of times, this 12th house dynamic can feel unpredictable, eroding our own trust in ourselves for fear that we will randomly lose it at the worst possible time. it can reinforce self-sabotaging narratives and other scary stories we tell about ourselves. it can be so painful, and i don’t think it always has to be that way.

here comes the reframe:

what if the 12th house is sacred, though

not in a love-and-light-washed “the 12th house is transcendence”¹ way, and not in a “suffering is a lesson you chose so actually it’s good!” way.

there’s gotta be something in between spiritually bypassing the pain of the 12th house and reinforcing narratives that undermine our own agency and doomcast about the 12th house. for me, the reframe that hits the sweet spot is this:

the 12th house is a sacred holding space for the many things we, for whatever reason, cannot bear to face head on in the moment. there will always be times in our life when things are too much, and we have to put some of it somewhere to keep going. this is not a failure. in fact, the 12th house plays a kind of protective role in this regard. the 12th house holds the playful child who got told to grow up (go away) until you can return to accept them unconditionally. the 12th house holds the desires you are too afraid to risk in the outside world because you cherish them too much. the 12th house holds the enormity of your grief when you must put it down and return to yourself, your life, and your beloveds. the 12th house, and the planet that is its ruler and steward, hold anything and everything you need them to for you to keep going in the world—to survive—until you are better resourced to face it.

doing “12th house work”—proactively going inward to tend to your inner world— is not about clearing it out and cleaning it up like a rental you want the deposit back on. it’s about honoring the sacred role of the 12th house and its ruler, and in doing so, honoring yourself. it’s about choosing to look where it’s easiest not to look. it’s about challenging what you’ve been told is inappropriate or unacceptable. it’s about refusing to buy into narratives designed to make you feel small and ashamed. 12th house work is about radical self acceptance.

a shrine for your 12th house is a promise made to yourself to not abandon those parts of you which have had to hide for so long. it is making space in your outward facing world for your inward facing world. it is the literal reflecting the figurative. it is a message to the universe: “i am making space for all of me, here.”

it doesn’t need to be some grand, perfect thing; an explicit acknowledgment of your 12th house, rooted in your material world, is a potent enough first step.

practical advice for creating a 12th house shrine

the 12th house is a highly personal place. the qualities of your own 12th house will depend heavily on your natal chart, but will also be informed by your lived experience, completely unique to you as a person.

when creating a 12th house shrine, try not to worry too much about it being perfectly accurate. in my experience, 12th house work goes most smoothly when you let imagination lead, and allow hypersubjectivity to be a part of the process. for example, you may feel like your 12th house is giving Gandalf the White for some reason even if you can’t explain it astrologically. if that’s the case, include that motif in your shrine!

if you don’t know where to start, Chani has an excellent, comprehensive list of altar* suggestions for each planet!

---

*a quick note on altars vs. shrines: an altar is typically a space where rituals or rites are performed, while a shrine is more of a dedicated sacred space for honoring something important. the reason i’m recommending a shrine instead of an altar for your 12th house is because 1) i think making space for 12th house things is a potent enough first step to engaging your 12th house intentionally, and 2) doing ritual/astrological magic work with the ruler of your 12th house could amp up the 12th House Stuff in your life, and i actually don’t recommend doing that as a first step or without some support or guidance. (more on that last part after the steps!)

---

first, find your 12th house sign. this is the sign just before your rising sign in zodiacal order. i recommend using whole sign houses for this work. take note of that sign’s element and modality, and jot down any colors, motifs, or aesthetic qualities that come to mind.

second, find the ruler of your 12th house. this is the planet that rules the sign that comes before your rising sign. this planet acts as steward of your 12th house and all that resides there, including any planets inside the 12th house. think about the planetary nature of your 12th house ruler, and jot down any colors, motifs, or aesthetic qualities that come to mind. you can also imagine them as a real person, like a character in a story, envisioning what kinds of tokens or trinkets they would appreciate or be signified by. here’s a cheat sheet for 12th house rulers by rising sign:

• Aries and Capricorn rising: Jupiter as 12th house ruler

• Taurus and Sagittarius rising: Mars as 12th house ruler

• Gemini and Scorpio: Venus as 12th house ruler

• Cancer and Libra: Mercury as 12th house ruler

• Leo rising: Moon as 12th house ruler

• Virgo rising: Sun as 12th house ruler

• Aquarius and Pisces rising: Saturn as 12th house ruler

you can take this as far as you’d like, bringing in your 12th house ruler’s sign and house placement, the other house it rules (if applicable), and even any aspects its making as you flesh out the vibe of this placement as 12th house steward.

if you need help interpreting your 12th house ruler, especially if your 12th house is empty, the Empty Houses Guidebook is the perfect starting point! even if you do have 12th house placements, the Empty Houses Guidebook breaks down how to interpret every facet of a house in your chart, focusing on the planet that rules it. it’s a perfect launch pad to help you brainstorm the ruler of your 12th house for setting up your shrine.

third, take into account any planets located inside your 12th house. these planets are inhabitants of your 12th house, inward facing world, and are likely doing a lot of heavy lifting for you. you may feel like their virtues are a little less available to you than other planet in your chart (common with 12th house placements); a lot of times, these tucked-away planets are easier to access in solitude. as with the above step, think about their planetary nature[s], qualities, colors, motifs, etc. imagine them as characters in a story, and think of what kinds of tokens or trinkets they might appreciate or be signified by.

bring it all together as you craft your shrine. the shrine itself can be anything: a cleared section of a bookshelf, a drawer (very 12th housey and private!) a shelf on the wall, or a small stool. or, get crafty with a hot glue device and some cardboard and make a cute lil shadowbox. find some kind of space, then begin to fill and decorate it according to your 12th house and its ruler’s qualities. here are some basics you can start with:

• an altar cloth: pick out a piece of fabric, an old garment, placemat, scarf, etc whose color and design speaks to your 12th house and its ruler. a Saturn ruled 12th house might call for a black silk scarf, a Mercury ruled 12th house might call for a color-shifting organza.

  • the basic planetary colors are white/silver for the Moon, yellow/gold for the Sun, orange/multicolor for Mercury, green/pastel for Venus, red for Mars, royal purple/royal blue for Jupiter, black/navy for Saturn.

• a focal point : if you have an object around the house that screams your 12th house ruler, like a statue, figurine, mug, vase, book, etc, you can make that the centerpiece of your shrine. a Mars ruled 12th house might have a bronze ram statue to set the tone, while a Venus ruled 12th house might have a handmade ceramic teapot as the focal point.

• any thematic item at all: if you notice something in your space that reminds you of your 12th house and its ruler, add it to the shrine! a twig twisted like a braid, a tiny key found on a walk, a fallen blossom, an iridescent button, whatever it is, if it matches your 12th house vibe, add it to the shrine. remember, this is meant to be personal and private! there’s no need to go out and buy a bunch of new stuff (in fact i recommend not buying anything). just add what feels right to you, and let it evolve over time.

if you feel ready to take your shrine in more of an altar direction, you can also include:

• a candle: add a candle in the color of your 12th house ruler to light when you sit at your shrine/altar to honor your 12th house. bonus: including a candle means an opportunity to find a thematic candle holder next time you go thrifting!

• a vessel for water/other offerings: a vessel like a cup, mug, or bowl to offer water or an appropriate beverage to your 12th house ruler is one more opportunity to think with what would be on-theme with your 12th house and its ruler.

a note of caution:

12th house work is not for the faint hearted! intentionally engaging the 12th house in your life may start a metabolization process that brings tender or painful emotions or memories to the surface. before creating a shrine, and especially before creating an altar and beginning ritual work, i recommend getting a good idea of your own 12th house themes with an astrological analysis of your 12th house ruler. this will help you know a bit of what to expect, and give you some clues about your own personal 12th house tells. the 12th house can be isolating, and it’s a good idea to have support around you when you engage this work.

if you start to feel overwhelmed, in too deep, or isolated while doing 12th house work, stop. your 12th house isn’t going anywhere, and there’s no rush or pressure to engage it! if you start feeling like it’s too much to handle, disengage from any 12th house work you’re doing and find grounding points and connections in the outward facing world. call a friend, go outside, eat a good meal, take a cleansing shower.

getting to know your 12th house astrologically

breaking down your 12th house themes can be so illuminating, even if you don’t make a whole shrine. if you’re not sure where to start, i have resources for you:

• The Empty Houses Guidebook: if you don’t know where to start, i recommend starting here. this 41-page guidebook walks you through how to interpret any house in your chart in a full 6-step process. includes definitions, word banks, real chart examples, and a worksheet, making this guidebook friendly to all levels of astrological fluency!

• Waymaking to the 12th House Lecture: this the original 12th house talk that put my work on the map. this 60 minute lecture walks you through the basics of why the 12th house means what it means, then introduces my Waymaking philosophy and process with real chart examples. if you want to take a more imaginal/narrative approach to your shrine project, this is the perfect resource for that!

• book a 12th house reading with me! my books for May are open, and i have two 12th house readings available:

  • The Map: Charting the 12th House is a reading that centers your 12th house, breaking down all the ins and outs of your 12th house themes, dynamics, and tendencies.

  • The Journey: Waymaking to the 12th House is a hybrid reading that’s part astrology, part facilitated imaginal journey. this work is for folks who know the astrology of their 12th house, but they want to go deeper, discovering the living Story that originates in this dark place. i have a lot of information on what Waymaking readings are like here!

  • Map and Journey: Your 12th House Story is a 2-session package that includes (you guessed it) the two readings above. first, we’ll lay down the astrological foundation in your initial session, and when we meet again, we’ll dive into the narrative part of the work. read all about this package here!

---

even after all that, i honestly feel like i could say even more about the 12th house and its importance. maybe i should write a guidebook about it. would you be into that? let me know in the comments or by replying to this email!

1. what does this even mean?? why do we need a house for transcendence??