Secrets of the 3rd House: Primal Energies
The third house is connected to the reptilian brain that governs our core sexual drives and aggressive impulses in the primal mind. The natural third sign of the zodiac is Gemini, which in Sanskrit comes out as Mithuna, which means copulation. The third house is a very creative house of play in its higher octave, but in its lower state, it can move us to unconscious sexual desire and aggressive energy that can run our lives. Its primary karaka or signifier is Mars and with Mars comes wild, sexual aggression.

This house is often put in the neutral category of creating minor problems or growth or talked about in terms of siblings, but it is still a very difficult house. In the Varga charts, you do not want planets in the 3rd house as it spoils them and the periods connected to them. I wonder if the ancients failed to talk about the third house significantly or clearly because sex and violence are taboo subjects and at the same time they are also such primal and natural urges of our society. Think about what sells in Hollywood and you get a sense of why creativity, sex, violence, writing, and artistic expression are so connected to the third house.

The bright side of the third house is its connection to amusement, adventure, and play. It is connected to the natural sign of Gemini, representing how we communicate and is very connected to artistic expression and the arts. It represents the joy of our adolescent youth ready to go on short journeys in quest of sexual conquest and adventure. You do not want Mars in the 3rd house because it will create too much Martian adventure energy for violence or sexual conquest.

Jupiter falls out of favor here and is the most weakly placed planet and is considered Marana Karaka Sthana. Jupiter in the 3rd house moves out of dharma and its natural quest for higher wisdom and instead falls into sexual play, laziness, and lack of motivation.

The third house is also a house of longevity as it is 8th from the 8th. If you use up too much sexual energy from the compulsion of Venus and Mars, we reduce our vitality and weaken our immune system. If the 3rd house is connected to the 1st and the 8th house through associations, it can create suicidal tendencies as emotional events can shake the core of our primal mind.

Like Gemini, the natural 3rd sign, the 3rd house is also connected to Mercury and the ability to make deep intellectual discoveries. There can be a Martian spirit of adventure here, which can also move into the joy of intellectual research. (I have a lot of Gemini energy in my chart and my deepest sense of adventure would be to look for the mystery books in the graduate stacks of the Indiana University Library. With my writing and teaching, I still have this great joy and sense of adventure in pursuing new knowledge in the quest for self-realization. That comes through the constellation of Orion (Mrigashira in the Vedic system), which straddles Taurus and Gemini in its spiritual questing nature.

If your profession is connected to the 3rd house (lord of the 10th in the 3rd or lord of the 3rd in the 10th or other associations), you may be drawn to science and engineering, research and exploration because of the intellectual and inquiring mind and sense of intellectual adventure that the 3rd house brings.

You do not want benefics in the 3rd house because the 3rd house is about fighting and standing up for your territory. Put Venus, Jupiter, the Moon, or Mercury here and you will be too nice toward your noisy neighbors or fail to stand your ground in the schoolyards, but you may have a great love of the arts, be a great writer, be friendly, love learning, and be compassionate toward your enemies. There is always a bright side if you look, but if low in dignity by sign, these placements may make you naïve about people who threaten you.

The third house is a kama house of pleasure and desire. In the D-9 or Navamsha chart, it will reveal a great deal about your sexual energy, and in the D-3 (connected to the 3rd house) or Drekkana chart, it will also reveal information about your sexual energies. Moon and Venus here will make you passionate while Mars will make you too aggressive with sexual conquests. Rahu will be obsessed with sexual energy unless it has dignity in Virgo. Ketu here will be indifferent toward sex as it is a monk by nature. Malefics in your natal chart between the 3rd and 9th house axis may lead to breaks in marriage during their dashas.

With Mars as the natural karaka, the third house is about fighting and competition, and aggression. The more malefics you have in the 3rd house, the more battles you will initiate. The more benefics you have in the 3rd house, the more attacks you will receive and you will want to run away.

Disease from the 3rd house is not past karma but created from karma in this lifetime. The third house can be seen as an armor of protection. It is your immune system and survival skills and rules the Thymus gland, which creates T-cells that fight illness.

Past Lives
The third house brings in strong desires from past lives into the chart because it is 8th from the 8th. Put both Mars and Venus here and you may have too much primal, unconscious, and uncontrollable energy that may get you into trouble. It may bring deep karmic challenges with marriage if the 7th and 3rd houses are connected. It may be important for timing sexual initiation in a woman’s chart and connected to marriage and consummation of the relationship. If there is a connection between the 7th and the 3rd house, there may be a karmic connection for marriage from a past life. I have this in my chart and my wife and I both remember being married together in the Italian Renaissance when I was the stable boy and she was the lady’s seamstress.

The darker energies of Mars can easily come out here bringing impulsiveness, force, future, anger, passion, rage, and mental confusion. The frustrating quest for happiness (12th from the 4th house of happiness) may lead one to think that sexual conquest and adventure will quiet that energy and lead to calming it, but Mars is difficult to tame like a wild horse let out of the stable and can cause more problems than good.

By nature, the 3rd house carries our fighting energy because of the deep connection to Mars. The remedy is always Mercury/Gemini, which needs to move into a friendship rather than fight. Mars is unhappy in the 4th house of home and domestic tranquility. Mars needs to get out and flex its muscles and prove his manliness in the 3rd house – 12 houses away.

If we channel our 3rd house energy away from sexual conquest into artistic expression, we can move the energy up to create great art. Connect Moon to the 3rd house and it can bring joy in singing and poetry. Connect the Sun to the 3rd house and spiritual reading and playing musical instruments may develop. Put Venus here then painting and dance may erupt and Mercury here will become a creative writer.

Mental Rest
Planets in the 3rd house will show how much mental rest is needed to restore energy and resist stress. Because the 3rd house is 12th from the 4th house of the mind, it shows how much we need to retreat and rest to overcome stress.

This can be studied from the Moon chart or the natal rising sign and may help with planning vacation time, but some planets placed here usually do not practically allow enough time for a vacation. Sun in the third house needs 6 months to recuperate while Saturn needs a whole year and Rahu 8 months and Ketu 3 months. Most of us do not have the luxury to take that much time off.

The Moon can recharge in the 3rd house with a 48-minute catnap so it can move through stress more quickly. Mars needs a day or a maximum of 7 days. Jupiter needs a month, Venus needs 2 weeks and Mercury needs 2 months respectively.

If you have weak planets in the 3rd house by lack of dignity or connected to malefic energies, planets in the 3rd house may become a source of mental troubles and depression and headaches.

Venus or Jupiter in the 3rd house will create mental tension from women or spouses. Saturn in the 3rd house will create excessive mental tension around work and Mars in the 3rd house will create excessive tensions from fighting with siblings or neighbors.

Planets debilitated in the 3rd house may create such anguish that you may sense that the signification for that planet is killing you. Put Rahu here which is said to be “good” in the 3rd house and you may be plagued by unethical and unscrupulous people. Afflicted Moon here may create constant worry from work. Again, planets need to be afflicted or weak to cause mental distress.

The remedy may be to strengthen the 3rd lord to eliminate the stress. If a weak or afflicted Venus owns the 3rd house then spending more time with women, creating art, or going to a movie may release tensions. If Jupiter owns the 3rd house, you may need to teach, visit your spiritual place of worship, or find a Guru.

Having the 1st lord afflicted in the 3rd house may lead to excessive beating up of oneself and causing one’s own problems through bad judgment and this may lead to depression. If the Lagna lord is strong and well placed, it will not be an issue.

The rule is that you want malefics in the third house because you need some aggression to fight your enemies, but so often they cause trouble there also because there is usually some affliction. Still, we need malefics in the 3rd house to support the drive and courage to get us through our challenges. Benefics in the 3rd house may support family life and friendship. Jupiter in the 3rd house needs a Guru to initiate it and get it on the spiritual path or it will fall to party energy. Malefics in the 3rd house in a woman’s chart may lead to divorce (dharma of marriage is hurt) and 9th from a male chart may do the same.

Secrets of The Elements

• If water planets like the Moon or Venus are in the 3rd house, there will be a deficit of fire element in the chart and the person will lack initiative, courage, and organizational strength.
• If Saturn or Rahu (air planets) are in the 3rd house, there will be a shortage of water in the chart, and marriage and family may suffer.
• If Mars, Sun, or Ketu is in the 3rd house, there will be a shortage of earth elements and financial instability will not be there and there will be problems with learning and problems with acute disease or dangers from operations.
• If Mercury is in the 3rd house then there will be a shortage of the air element ruling strength, physical and mental endurance, and responsibility.

Remedies for the 3rd House

• Remedies for the 3rd house require bringing in the 2nd house i.e. food, family, and money. Sometimes you have to bring in the values of the afflicted planets in that house:
• If you have Jupiter in the 3rd, bring sweets and support teachers, and support your father.
• If you have Moon in the 3rd house, do something for your mother or family.
• If you have Saturn in the 3rd house, support elders in your family.
• If you have Mars in the 3rd house, support brothers or veterans in your family.
• If you have Venus in the 3rd, take yogurt or sour things and support women or wives.