The House of Roots

The fourth house sits at the bottom of the chart, the Imum Coeli or IC — the most private, hidden point. This is the foundation upon which the entire life is built. Family of origin, ancestral patterns, the childhood home, the parent who provided (or failed to provide) emotional security — all belong here.

In traditional astrology, the fourth house signified the father (some traditions assign the father to the tenth). Regardless of which parent is assigned here, the fourth house represents the parent who shaped your inner world, who built (or undermined) your sense of safety and belonging. Difficult placements here often correlate with a complicated relationship to home and family that takes decades to resolve.

Real estate, land, and fixed property belong to the fourth house. The sign on the IC and planets here describe the kind of home you create as an adult — not just the physical structure, but the emotional atmosphere. Cancer on the IC creates a home oriented around nurturing and family. Aquarius on the IC may produce an unconventional living situation.

The fourth house also governs the end of life and the end of matters. Where the first house is the beginning (the sunrise), the fourth is the midnight — the ending, the burial, the final resting place. This is not morbid; it is a natural completion of the cycle.