SECRETS OF THE 2ND HOUSE : PART 1: THE STOREHOUSE OF WEALTH AND ASSERTING OUR IDENTITY
While the 2nd house is often discussed as a money house, in Vedic astrology is is called Dhana Bhava meaning storage or food. It is more connected with savings than the ability to earn money and it is more connected to family wealth and family relationships. There becomes a complex interaction between food, money and family that deeply shape our lives, eating habits and habits around money. In this two part article, we will explore these issues. Part 1 will focus more on savings, physical money and expressing our identity in the material world.
While the 2nd house is traditionally connected to Jupiter, we cannot forget Venus due to Taurus being the natural 2nd sign of the zodiac and hence food and pleasure are very key to its understanding. What are the mysteries of the 2nd house?
The 2nd house and our desire for wealth creates an impulse for us to set our mark in the world by moving beyond the inherited wealth of our family and creating our own material legacy or we just become a family. We must transform this territory to move beyond our family’s inherited past and assert our own natural gifts through the money we spend. The 2nd house becomes a place where we develop a sense of self-worth connect to our status in the world in terms of what we own and wear and eat. In some ways, it then becomes a place of maya where we think we can increase our self-worth through outward status. This brings in the 2nd sign Taurus of luxury and comfort.
The key to the 2nd house is that it requires action, like tilling the soil. You have to transform what you find here like a garden. Pruning, planting and fertilizing are necessary to create a garden in order to be able to harvest the fruits and store them for the winter. You have to be able to get rid of pests and predators if you are to maintain your storehouse. Jupiter is the natural signifier for the 2nd house and hence knowledge and wisdom are keys to savings and managing money but they have disappeared from the high school and college curriculums. Invest time and money in learning about managing money and you will support the natural tendency of the 2nd house.
We have to protect, and manage our resources and storehouse or suffer a fall because we have not learned to save money for a rainy day. Inevitably the winds of karma blow and if we have not learned to be squirrels and collect our nuts for the winter, we will suffer. Its like the fabled story of the ant and the grasshopper. The ant works all summer while the grasshopper plays like there’s no tomorrow, until winter comes and there’s no food. If we are grasshoppers just living the luxuries of the summer crops in the moment, come winter, we will be gone. The second house represents an important lesson in saving to maintain our sustenance. Still there can be a balance between working and saving which is why the 2nd and 6th house are connected but the fun and playful aspects of Taurus the natural 2nd house have to come together also. So make sure to nourish Venus and have fun also as too much work will create imbalance. Put Rahu or Ketu afflicted in the 2nd house and there is a problem with holding onto money, saving it, honoring it and not gambling it way or pushing it away.
One of the eight aspects of wealth, is Dhanya Lakshmi which represents food as prosperity. While often translated as agriculture, I think that this aspect of wealth may be associated with food and health. It is the Venus and 2nd house connection to Taurus.
I work a lot with the farm community and they are such a wealthy bunch because no matter what is happening in the stock market, they have their land, their livestock and their crops and they feel very abundant. They have affluence to feed the whole town in times of trouble. This is the second type of wealth.
Taurus, the 2nd natural sign of the zodiac is the obvious embodiment of these qualities and when strong and when the 2nd house is well aspected by benefics and especially if Venus is in her own sign in the 2nd, house, these qualities will shine. A strong moon with moon in Taurus or in Cancer or well-placed and a strong Saturn connected to agriculture and connected to Venus in a chart will increase these qualities.
The 2nd house is an Artha or wealth house but we forget that money is very connected to spirituality. If we do not have a storehouse of food and wealth to sustain us, then we cannot purse our highest spiritual aspirations. In the spiritual community, it is forgotten that matter gives form to spirit. I find many people in the spiritual world are out of balance and struggle to maintain their spirituality because they have not paid attention to money because they think that it is not spiritual. The very opposite is true in that if we do not take care of our 2nd house, then we will not be able to sustain our drive for liberation. The process of the soul’s growth is forced to grow by dealing with the sustaining drive to conquer the material world. The two go together and escaping to the ashram and meditating all day is not likely to be enough.
Here is a quick guide to planets in the 2nd house connect to money but the signs owned by the 2nd house may be more important. These are of course altered by dignity, signs, nakshatra placement and dignity.
- Sun in 2nd: Gives wealth through hard worth and labor; native tends to spend more than he earns or saves.
- Moon in 2nd: Wealth, prosperity and happiness in life; full moon is very wealthy. Aspected by Mars or Sun may create instability of income.
- Mars in 2nd House: Good earnings and savings. Tends to spend more than he earns. Gains through brothers and property.
- Mercury in 2nd: Happy life with worldly comforts; good traders and lawyers.
- Jupiter in 2nd: Good even if karaka in same house.
- Venus in 2nd: Good for riches; may deal in jewels; clothing; has comforts.
- Saturn in 2nd: Strong Saturn in Libra or Aquarius is good but more problematic in other signs.
- Rahu in 2nd: Sudden wealth and unpredictability and speculation; wealth through foreign lands.
- Ketu: Bad for wealth; frequent expenditures.
- Uranus: Sudden change in finances; frequent change of profession.
- Neptune: Strange experiences; naïve speculative energy
- Pluto: Sudden gains and losses and major changes
In Part 2, we will discuss the impact of the 2nd house on family and food habits and speaking patterns and explore planets and signs connected to the 2nd house.
What to learn more Secrets of the Houses and understand their deep spiritual and psychological depth.
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