the fourth house, your family mind
    Welcome To Lily’s House: The houses refer to place or setting for life on Earth. In this series, I will share some real
    insider stuff about each house. The science and the geography of the houses is less important than the poetry of
    them. I hope to fill your need for a lightening fast comprehension of your own inner thoughts of the past, when you
    had questions about the reality you live in. Perhaps you will be inspired to observe the stage we all play on, that
    fiction we call the houses of the horoscope.
    By Lily Satterfield
    This month, we are looking at your astrological fourth house. I call this the place of the ancestors. It
    is a picture of the family line that has sent you into incarnation as a representative of the family
    karmic pattern. All ancestors are supportive of your progress. You have to believe this, trust me
    when I say, no ancestor you have wishes you anything other than the best of success.
    I say this even though I know we are not at peace with the ancestors, the people in the family who
    have gone before us. We either overly idealize the departed or we vilify them and use them as
    posthumous scapegoats. However, nothing like this is going to work . You cannot get the
    satisfaction you seek if someone has already departed. The process of dying is one that scrapes
    away what is false in a person, leaving only the true heart felt qualities of a higher vibration. Many
    people wish to contact a departed one, only to have frustration and disappointment as a result of
    those efforts.
    (I will be writing more about how to recognize your Guides in a later issue. For now, I will give you a
    hint: The purified spirit of your deceased relative has no interest in the earthly life he had before.
    You will look in vain for him in the hall of his old desires.)
    Our family has a mind which is unique. Each karmic group of people are incarnating into the family
    they belong with. The family line itself has an objective, a purpose to fulfill.  The family has a mind
    and an agenda. Do you know anything about the previous family members? If you pay attention,
    you might hear your own style in the story of a grandfather, grandmother, etc. Quite often, new
    members resemble previous ones. A distinct personality can emerge, enough to make people
    remark, “you are so much like Uncle Joe...”
    Sometimes the family agenda is clearly stated for all the members, such as “we came here to
    prosper, let us do better than the other families.“ Or  “let us show we are the most disgraceful
    family, or the best , worst, and most troublesome or helpful family.”  What were your aunts and
    uncles doing?  What were their expectations? You will be able to see yourself in them.
    If you can’t relate, it is because you came in to change the family agenda. No sweat, do what you
    came here to do. First you have to analyze the family agenda. We all decide what our proper place
    in the world might be through family and career. The fourth house provides the roots, while the
    opposite house, the tenth, provides the branches that grow up to the sky. If you have powerful
    roots to anchor you, you might have the strength to achieve something outside the family
    altogether. Fame, recognition, power, influence, wealth, authority: these are what we can build with
    a good fourth house foundation.
    One of the things I look at as an astrologer is what kind of foundation you actually have. Is it a
    rock, or a sandpit? Your chart will show the condition of your current family and what value you
    place on family. It will reveal the karmic patterns, the family agenda, and colorful characters whom
    you resemble.  When you know, it will explain many mysteries for you, such as why you never
    wanted to leave home or why you couldn't’t wait to leave home! It will explain why you value buying
    a house or why you prefer to rent. It can indicate something about wealth or poverty. What energy
    of heart, mind and soul to you gravitate toward? It is the fourth house, laying down the foundation
    of how you want to live, where and with whom. Take a look, it will reveal more that you wanted to
    know.
    Once you have begin to understand the family system, it no longer has the power to orchestrate
    your life without your conscious agreement. You will be free of compulsions and obsessions and
    your tendency toward clinging to someone whom you do not belong with. We are confused about
    who people are. We are often attracted to someone who resembles a family member we miss.
    While there is no harm in that, it shows a temptation to try to fulfill the family agenda without being
    conscious of what that agenda is.  
    Through the efforts of the living, the family agenda is advanced. When people pass on, they
    cannot help to advance the family mission directly, but they can serve as guides and inspiration for
    us if we know how to look for their influence. People who can communicate from "over there"
    usually say that the most important time to speak is when you have lips, not when you are a
    bodiless shade who cannot use words anymore.
    They remind us that our real insight may come from the living, who are family members we still
    have time to influence by example. So get out and recognise the power you have to grow, either
    because of or in spite of your family line.