The Sixth House

The Signs

Sep 23

Sixth House Astrology Meaning Symbolism — **I attend to**

**Keywords:** Habits, Daily Routines, Health, Pets, Work, Service, co-workers, Vocation, Illness, Diet, Exercise, Body, planting seeds, planning, volunteering

sign affinity: virgo

Element affinity: earth

Mode affinity: mutable

Chop Wood, Carry Water

The sixth house entails the reality of everyday life — mundane yet necessary aspects to maintain order and control over our lives. Whether brushing our teeth, feeding our children or taking out the garbage, tasks, chores and routines are a necessary skill to master, and prevent our reality from collapsing into chaos. For those prone to daydreaming and wishful thinking, the sixth house acts as an excellent leveller, ‘grounding’ us in the material, pragmatic realm that demands our immediate attention.

In the sixth house, we process and refine matter, especially the body. If we want to accomplish things, the maintenance and upkeep of our physical form and fitness must be attended to. Health is hence a prominent theme, including our attitudes to health, disease, medicine, treatment, diet and exercise. How do we look after our body and treat it in a state of distress? What signals does it send us? This house is where we apply technique — a specific diet, a specific workout — to raw material: the body.

Work and Service

Despite the impressive technological progress of our modern world, work is what keeps the machines of a factory running and the business of the world buzzing. The sixth house describes our attitude to work and co-workers — are we collaborative, impatient, dismissive or meticulous? How do we approach our job? This house provides clues about which profession we could be prolific in and how we create and experience our everyday working life.

Work is intimately tied to service. How do we serve others, life, and indeed ourselves? As astrologer Sasportas noted, ‘our true vocation is to be ourselves’ — if we do not adequately serve our true nature, then our emotional, spiritual, mental and physical health will suffer. Perhaps this is why pets also fall under the remit of this house — caring for and living alongside animals teaches us and enriches us in ways that human companionship cannot, and is an act of service that comes back tenfold in the form of authentic affection.

Planets In The Sixth House

The sign on the cusp of the sixth house and any planets residing therein indicate a preoccupation with health, routines, practical everyday matters such as household chores, work, and service to others. A busy sixth house could be part of the chart of an acupuncturist, a doctor, a hypochondriac or a yoga-obsessed vegan, a personal trainer or a vet. Outer planets in the sixth house hint at a deeper lesson surrounding themes of bodily health and service to Self and Other, healing on both a physical and spiritual level and inspiring others in the process. If planets are close to the Descendant, these sixth house themes impact our one-to-one, personal relationships as well as business partnerships.

Higher Wisdom Of The Sixth House

The sixth house reminds us that even the most mundane of chores can be a gateway to spiritual fulfilment. As Zen Koan said — “Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water”. Spiritual practice is not only to be found in Himalayan caves and remote monasteries — even a simple activity such as washing the dishes can put us into a meditative state. If we learn to honour the sacredness of each moment, align our vocation with our higher purpose and bring mindfulness to daily activities, we transform everything we do into acts of devotion. This house also teaches us that health extends beyond the realms of physical well-being alone. Our bodies are the home our soul has chosen, and deserve to be nurtured with mindful care as a pathway to spiritual growth.