If there is one house in the whole chart, that is able to completely and entirely bring you a real change in your life, based solely on your self initiated efforts and free will, it is the third house. This is the house that essentially holds the key to making your dreams a reality. Today we’ll talk all about it, from both a traditional and esoteric perspective, so that we understand what it really means and shows on a deeper level in one’s life.
The third house is about communication, storytelling, writing, creativity and self efforts, natural skills, gifts and talents, skillfulness and resourcefulness, craftsmanship, the soul’s courage, manifestation and dreams divination, intuitive messages, artistry and entertainment, intelligence and learning capacity and mental development, courage and motivation, intellectual curiosity, siblings, travel, language, entrepreneurship, and devotion.
The third house rules the hands, and what are the hands? Hands are freedom. We take care of ourselves and others because of our hands, we create with our hands, and we initiate with our hands. With our hands we weave our own destiny and path forward.
For example, if you have Venus in your third house, you may have beautiful hands literally, and may also have a beautiful way of speaking, writing, being a poet and writer, with the potential to touch people’s hearts through your words, as well as inspiring them and awakening their love consciousness.
As the third house is connected to the feminine mysteries and divination, we’ll talk about that further down, this relates to the hands also. This is is because feminine energy flows through the hands. Cooking, gardening, weaving, painting, writing, polishing your nails, creating jewellery, massages – people with strong third house have many diverse skills and are naturally talented with anything that has to do with their hands. They may even have healing energy flowing through their hands depending on planetary placements. Their sense of touch may be powerful; and they need touch, intellectual stimulation and open communication in their personal relationships to feel fulfilled.
People with a lot of planets in their third house are natural artists, being naturally gifted in many diverse talents and skills. If one seeks to be an entrepreneur, one needs to have a strong third house, because it holds all the qualities you’d need to succeed.
The third house is known as one of the three kama houses, or houses of desire. “Kama” comes from the Sanskrit word meaning longing, love, will, purpose, intention, desire, passion, wish and enjoyment; and there are many layers that unfold with these meanings depending on the intention of its use. The three kama houses are the third, seventh and eleventh, and there is time, or the passage of time and the needed patience of time, that all these entail.
The seventh house has to do with our desire for the right partner and deepening of intimacy with another, and with love; and such things take time in life, and it is also dependent on the other person’s soul path, so that we finally meet and paths align. The eleventh house is about our higher hopes and dreams, about wealth and recognition by other people, and this house is about larger groups and networks, which too are not entirely in our control. And the third house is where our free will is – this is the house that requires us to put in the effort, but it is through self efforts and courage and perseverance that we can use our skills, talents and gifts to make our dreams come true, building something real – and something that makes us feel fulfilled and purposeful. At the core of all of us as human beings is to feel purposeful, seen and to be the best version of ourselves.
Diving deeper, the third house shows the courage of our soul. It also blends the subconscious and conscious worlds into one, being the house of natural manifestation. People with strong third house are increadibly brave and courageous,and can go the distance navigating through any obstacles.
The third house, sitting in the night or south/bottom section of our chart, is associated with the time of night during which dreams may manifest into reality, as it rules the part of our intuitive brain situated at the back of our neck. This is why the third house is connected to dreams as means of divination. People born with their Sun in the third house, for example, hold this solar wisdom and manifestation ability in a most natural way.
This house is ruled by the number 3, which is the number is manifestation, holding within itself all the power of inspired creativity and the creative impulse. Manifestation requires three points to make the circuit of energy grounding something into the physical. One makes a spark, two makes the connection, and the third creates the circuit to then become physical.
As such, the third house has deep association with the power of mind and spirit, and the power of words as manifestation. This is a house through which the native can make a meaningful change in people’s consciousness through words. Some of the greatest healers and storytellers, as well as psychics and intuitives, have powerful third house placements.
The ancient texts called the third house by the name Goddess, citing that it was the place where the Moon rejoiced. When a planet occupies the house of its joy, it was believed to feel exceeding happy and predisposed to bring forth the best of its own qualities.
When we enter the realm of the Moon Goddess, we find that she bestows on us many gifts, including the gift of the seer, divination, divine messages, psychic dreams, inspired imagination and creative power, as well as observing all beyond the veils.
Sitting opposite the third house is the ninth house, and this was known as the house of God. These two are closely connected, as through the third house, we pull in knowledge from the ninth, and then through our ability of words and communication, we translate higher knowledge into something more accessible for people to understand. We become messengers. And we also become observers, as we are no longer gathering knowledge in intentional solitude up the hill or in the monastery, we are now engaging with others, making relationships, and seeing how things are actually sewn together in a tangible way. We become the artists of our life.
And it’s a mastery – because the third house excels at what it does, and has no only talent, it has the perseverance, motivation and courage of soul to really achieve what it desires, and to make its dreams come true.
The intuitive Moon in the third house pulls from the higher esoteric knowledge from the ninth, and creates what it desires, and puts it into practice all she knows through observances, ideas, wisdom and intuitive insights.
People who have both their Moon and Sun conjunct in the third house, especially if also with their Ascendant lord, are known to be highly intuitive, and have been priests or priestesses in many past lives, who still carry their natural gifts and talents, both creatively and spiritually. Whatever they create in this life will be imbued with this energy, and touch people’s hearts and souls in a meaningful and healing way.
The traditional ruler of the third house is Mercury, because the house is naturally ruled by Gemini. However, once an individual is dedicated to their spiritual path, the ruler of the third house becomes Venus.
The third house is linked to women’s spirituality, the feminine mysteries, and provides the temple for the worship of the divine feminine in all her guises. The esoteric representation of the third house is the integration of the higher and lower self, which creates this channel of birth and creation, of the physical and that beyond the veils.
This is, at its essence, a house that provides magic and free will, and as mentioned in the beginning, it holds the key to truly changing your life and making your dreams come true. You see, the eight house too transforms things, but these changes come from hidden and unexpected places, and are beyond our control; they are actually quite karmic because the eight house is one of the karmic houses. The third house is our free will and our channel for creation. As for talents, the fifth house too shows creativity, but it doesn’t necessarily show natural talents and gifts, nor does it show our ability to bring spirit into matter, and make our ideas and inspirations something more tangible; all this is only seen through the third house.
Natives with significant placements in the third house have many natural talents and gifts, with the skills and power to go the distance and put in the effort to actually make something of their talents. They can become great entrepreneurs, have unique self expressions, be amazing writers and communicators, poets and artists, and create magic out of thin air.
These natives know how to make things happen in life; they have the initiation to start it, the resourcefulness and knowledge to make it and build it, and the perseverance, trust and courage to nurture it and sustain it.
How this will all manifest in someone’s chart depends solely on their awareness level and where they are on their self realization path. On the higher manifestation, these natives can become channels of divine messages, and through their words make a real impact in this world. Through their words they change people’s consciousness raising their awareness, and inspiring them deeply.
They may have the ability through their words to untangle complexity, help people make sense of things, and re-connect them to the parts of themselves which they thought they’d lost. Strong third house natives have the ability to translate higher esoteric knowledge and spiritual wisdom into simpler words, so that it is more accessible for people to understand, to ingest and digest.
On the other hand, if the native isn’t far ahead on their path to self realization or isn’t much self aware, this could all manifest as inability to focus, fickle mind, addiction to information without intentional nor meaningful usage, a lack of attention, and a lack of responsibility for their words. Their words may eventually become weightless, shallow and empty. These natives may also become stuck in rigid thinking, close mindedness, and gain “insight or knowledge” only through scroling on social media or memes; they may limit their ability to understand concepts and stay stuck on the surface level or literalism, rather than investing their time and energy into understanding something on a deeper level. All of these behaviours may limit their growth and soul’s evolution. It should be also noted that natives who only have their natal Moon in this house, without any other planets around it nor any supporting aspects, should take extra care of their mental health and overall wellbeing.
As this is a house of a somewhat an “open channel” many people might often feel ideas pouring in, especially at night. They might feel continously inspired or as if there is always something they need to learn, and in order not to feel overwhelmed, they need to keep their minds occupied in health ways, and their intellectual curiosity stimulated. Research is great for these natives, and they can even try listening to an audio book to fall asleep, as this will soothe their mind.
Remember that this house rules the hands, so keep them busy – this will balance your mind and soothe your nervous system. Touching fabrics and textures can be deeply pleasurable to you, and it is also a grounding technique. Your sense of touch may be very sharpened, and touching is important in your relationships also. Communication is vital for your relationships – you need a partner with whom you can talk to about anything and everything, laugh with at silly jokes while discussing philosophy also, and certainly you need someone who is emotionally mature and intellectually stimulating to you, otherwise you’ll feel bored and unfulfilled.
The third house often gives a lot of youthful energy, and a lot of vitality throughout life – there is an almost childlike wonder in learning new things, so nurture this, be that kid in the store trying out all the candies from the candy jars, this is all purposeful, as it is your soul experimenting what it loves and what it is passionate about in this life. Your curiosity and open mind, and willingness and courage to be your unique true creative self, are what will ensure that you will create of your true self. Some of the most innovative people have strong third houses, and even if at the time they faced many rejections, they persevered, stayed true to themselves, believed in themselves, and there we are, hundreds of years later still treasuring their crafts, whether as movies, books, music or photography.
And last, but certainly not least, the third house is ninth from the seventh house meaning that the higher purpose of our marriage would come through our self efforts and courage of soul. We need to put in the work, and be willing to listen and communicate, as only then the dharma of our union may be completed. The third house is also eleventh from the fifth meaning that the higher hopes and dreams of our children is actually us being fulfilled in what we do, and the efforts we put into our own talents, gifts and skills – as this is what will help our children walk their own unique paths in life also.
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Cover art by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Woman with a Fan, c. 1879, via Wikimedia Commons.
