©2-5-2013 by Donna Cunningham, MSW
In this Skywriter series, we’re exploring the ways people express their 12th house planets. This little-understood and much maligned placement has traditionally been assigned a variety of unfortunate attributes. I’m hoping that together we can gain new insight into how it can be used in a balanced way, capitalizing on its strengths and avoiding self-destructive behaviors.
My impression, from doing charts for close to 45 years, is that many of us 12th house folks are introverts, and that we both love and need our times of solitude. Many of us find that being in the company of others—especially in groups—for any length of time can be anywhere from distracting to draining.
One of the things that keeps us from feeling okay about ourselves is that the Western world places a judgment on introversion. It’s seen as being maladjusted, like it’s something we need to fix. We’re told we need get therapy, get a lover, or get a life.
Having my chart done for the first time helped me understand that introversion was not something I needed to fix; it was part of who I am. With my 12th house Sun and Jupiter, that 12th house retreat from the world is one of my strengths, the wellspring of my creative work.
My writing requires long periods of solitude and total silence—no television, no phone calls, not even music while I work. I need it for the introspection, contemplation, and outright drifting and dreaming needed to delve deeply into a topic.
I’m not exactly a hermit, for I love spending time with my friends and enjoy meeting and talking with people. I’m such a psychic sponge, however, and so noise sensitive that being out in public for several hours is jarring in a way that only long hours of solitude can relieve. My idea of Hell would be having to live with other people. (No, wait, Hell is one big, loud, crowded party that goes on for an eternity.)
Studies Show: Being an Introvert Can Be a Good Thing!
By “coincidence,” I’m stumbling across new psychological research about introverts in magazines like Psychology Today and Scientific American Mind. The studies document that there’s a bias against introverts in both social and business settings. Many parents prefer their extroverted children over the introverted ones, for instance.
And, yet, researchers are finding that introverts have some surprising advantages in their actual job performance, especially in tasks that require focus, concentration, and the ability to work alone for long periods. As managers, they’re able to listen to employees’ ideas and feedback in a way that improves both morale and effectiveness in the work.
One major writer on this subject featured in the December, 2011 online issue of Psychology Today is Susan Cain, the author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts, How to thrive in a world that can’t stop talking. (Order the book here: http://www.amazon.com/Quiet-Power-Introverts-World-Talking/dp/0307352145.) The book description notes:
“At least one-third of the people we know are introverts. They are the ones who prefer listening to speaking, reading to partying; who innovate and create but dislike self-promotion; who favor working on their own. Although they are often labeled “quiet,” it is to introverts that we owe many of the great contributions to society–from van Gogh’s sunflowers to the invention of the personal computer.
“Passionately argued, impressively researched, and filled with indelible stories of real people, Quiet shows how dramatically we undervalue introverts, and how much we lose in doing so…And she draws on cutting-edge research in psychology and neuroscience to reveal the surprising differences between extroverts and introverts.”
You can take her test on whether you’re an extrovert or an introvert here: quiz: Are You an Introvert or an Extrovert? (And Why It Matters …. And hear what she has to say here: Quiet, Please: Unleashing ‘The Power Of Introverts’ : NPR. Her blog Quiet: The Power of Introverts – By Susan Cain is an ongoing examination and discussion of introverts, extroverts, and their roles.
Other Resources for Introverts
The famous Briggs Meyers personality test based on the Jungian types goes beyond the introvert/extrovert spectrum and places you in a combination of four psychological functions by which we experience the world: sensation, intuition, feeling, and thinking.Take a sample test here: http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp .
Additional articles on introversion from Psychology Today:
- How to Get Along With Introverts Part I
- Overcoming Holiday Shyness
- Are You A-Freyd of Introverts?
- Introverts, Extroverts, and Habit Change
- 6 Success Tips for People Who Are Anxious or Sensitive
And here are some related articles on the 12th house and solitude by other bloggers:
- The Twelve Houses: the 12th House of Solitude, Retreat and Self …
- Twelfth House Isolation | The Astrology Place
- Solitude – 12th House – The Lion and the Lightning Bolt
Some Research of Our Own: I’d love to hear from readers with a strong 12th house. Are you an introvert, an extrovert, or an ambivert (a mixed type)? If you don’t consider yourself an introvert, what chart features would tend toward extroversion? Share your thoughts in the comment section.
Here are more articles from Skywriter’s series on the 12th house:
- A Sensitive Guide to Planets in the 12th House—Guest Blog
- Readers Ask: Q & A about the 12th House
- New Insights into the 12th House from our Q&A Session
- A Tool for Analyzing Your 12th House Sign
- Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about the 12th—but Were Afraid to Ask
- The 12th House—Comparing Ancient and Modern Views
- 7 Secrets You May not Know about the 12th House
- Daybreak and the 12th House Sun
- 12 Famous People with 12th House Suns
- 80 Qualities of Venus in the 12th or other Venus-Neptune Combinations
- Jupiter in the 12th—When Does Good Luck Turn Bad?
- Transits from the 12th House to the 1st–Like Night and Day
Sky Writer 
With Sun, Jupiter, Mars & Mercury in the 12th, I qualify as a 12th House person and I usually consider myself an introvert but am thinking “ambivert” may be more accurate. Even as a child when my mother would drag me (sometimes literally) along when the family went visiting, I usually enjoyed myself once I got there. However, I’m always very happy to get back to my quiet home too. Has to be my 1st House Venus in Sagittarius that enjoys socializing (Libra Sun).
Briggs-Meyers: INFJ
Good to see you are posting again, Donna! 🙂
By: Diane L on February 5, 2013
at 7:36 am
Hey, Diane, great to see you here again! I was wondering if you’d come back. I LOVE being back on the blog and having these exchanges with readers. Donna
PS. On Myers-Briggs, I wound up precisely on the dividing line between INFJ and INFP. Since both of of those types make up only 1% of the population, while extroverts of all the categories make up high percentages of the population, my identity as a strange sort of bird was reconfirmed yet again.
By: Donna Cunningham on February 5, 2013
at 11:09 am
On my M-B, I came out thus: XNXP with a final of ENFP. The x is how they scored people who were about 50/50 in the categories.The test gave me a F point because I am female. If you are male and about 50/50 on the F/T scale, they’ll give you a freebie T point. Sorta sexist if you ask me, but maybe true.
By: MEL0810 on February 5, 2013
at 12:27 pm
That’s sexist for sure! What is the T–a testosterone point? Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on February 5, 2013
at 12:58 pm
I am a 12th house person, although I don’t have my Sun there, but check this out: Saturn in Capricorn, Jupiter in Capricorn, and the Moon in Cap, at 29 degrees, 55 minutes. Aquarius rising. I was born August 23, 1961. I don’t mind the solitude, although in my younger days it was a pain because I was isolated out in the country with two young children to raise by myself after divorcing my alcoholic husband. No help either, from either parent, not even from my brothers. And for weeks, sometimes months, I had no transportation and would only see my neighbor every once in a while. Now I’m out in the country again, but in a warmer climate(before I was in Ohio), and my partner and I are loving it. Kids are grown and on their own, and I am no longer shackled to the isolation. Yes, my first Saturn return sucked big time. This time around, I will kind of know what to expect, at least I won’t have small children I’m raising out in the middle of nowhere with no one to help and no transportation.
By: Kathleen on October 5, 2013
at 6:22 pm
I suppose I’m kind of an introvert, I was never popular in school and didn’t hang around with any “cool” kids. I was sort of a loner. And I am uncomfortable being in front of a large group of people having to talk in front of them, I don’t want to be “in the spotlight”. I prefer to stay “behind the scenes”.
By: Kathleen on October 5, 2013
at 6:26 pm
Hi Donna, love this post. It’s good to see your writings again, I’ve missed them. A while back I tested 14/15 on the introvert extrovert Myers Briggs scale. I guess that makes me an ambient…
As for my chart, I have Jupiter in the 12th conjunct my Ascendent, and Sun conjunct my Midheaven in the last degree of Aquarius, which is in part what gives me strong aspects of both. In addition, I have the moon and Venus conjunct in the 8th (Capricorn\Aquarius cusp). I’ve been in a very heavy internal, introverted, sleepy, nappy, dreamy lazy phase for the last several years, but much of that I attribute to Neptune being conjunct my Sun and now Midheaven.
I read the descriptions of Jupiter in the 12th that you provided, and they are pretty accurate. I do see myself as a student of the human psyche, and a lot of times I sense quite easily the unspoken motivations that are driving people’s actions.
Regarding your noise sensitivity and psychic sponginess, I’d be happy to share some techniques that can really take the edge off that. I used to be driven crazy by certain sounds around me – it was like they penetrated deep into the core of my body. Even though the social side of me loved parties, I really couldn’t handle the energy of all the people. Anyways, I thought I was just a bitch for a long time, until I learned a thing or two about keeping my aura in tact. I’m amazed at how much less aggravated by sounds and crowds I am these days 🙂 Happy to share if you are interested.
So glad to see you back.
By: pepinowski on February 5, 2013
at 7:40 am
Hi, thanks for sharing what makes you an ambi. I would love to do a post–or some research–on the effects of a 12th house planet that is conjunct the Ascendant, as I do believe it’s tricky to keep balanced.
The conjunction to the Asc would create a pressure to put that planet’s energies out there, but the 12th house need for “my space” would pull it back in. Does that make sense? Anybody else that wants to chime in on that?
As for tricks to manage the sensitivity and the aura, please do share with all of us. I do work hard to shield myself, a whole set of lightwork barriers I set up while getting ready to go out the door, every single time, sometimes including a cloak of invisibility, a la Harry Potter. And lots of healing by varioius shamans of holes in my aura from surgeries and a car accident, but a certain fragility remains. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on February 5, 2013
at 11:17 am
I hope I’m not too late to chime in. I have a very tight Saturn-Pluto conjunction in the 12th conjuncting my ASC. In my research and readings I’ve struggled with interpretations pertaining to this. Most say to interpret 12th house planets conjuncting the ASC as being in the 1st house. Much of it rings true, but not totally.
But you nailed it, Donna.
“The conjunction to the Asc would create a pressure to put that planet’s energies out there, but the 12th house need for “my space” would pull it back in.”
My experience has been, just as you say, one of tension between putting it out there (via the ASC) but also feeling the strong need to “pull it back in”. A personal example of this tension manifested is with my writing. I have had a few blogs where I posted my creative writings (under pseudonyms), only to take them all down eventually.
Thank you, Donna, for your articulate incisiveness.
By: Blue on October 25, 2013
at 7:51 pm
You explained the tension very well, Blue. I have to laugh just a bit, as I’m very 12th house myself, and when I started this blog, I was trying hard to be more self-revealing, as I’m very private. So many times, after I published something, I wanted to take it down…anguishing about it. I made myself leave them up, but it was hard! Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on October 25, 2013
at 10:17 pm
I too experience that tension and it’s also been about not interrupting my space although my 12th house Uranus (in a stellium with my sun pluto and jupiter) is at 29d25m virgo and not quite conjuct my asc in a 10d orb which is 11d 46m libra – but I definitely feel like that (unless it’s something else in my chart like my jupiter). It’s also a mixture of things depending on the type of ‘putting it out there’ but all of it for me is around communication ( I don’t have (much) of a problem walking into my local shop and asking people if they want any of my excess water kefir grains or something like that). For instance the effort of untangling miscommunications as well as the concern about the conflict, but also an awareness the many levels of meaning that everything has even a fairly simple sentence (and no context) aside from the perceptions of each individual make it close to overwhelming to write publicly about anything even if it’s not personal or interpersonal (or something controversial like vaccines which I actually used to be really good at before my brain sort of melted), plus I now have the belief that it’s more about working with the energies than saying anything. I have pluto transiting my 3rd house right now and it’s much more about transforming my thoughts and beliefs and very hard to speak and also rarely feels worth it – and mercury is not in the same house as my sun.
By: Genevieve on February 14, 2015
at 1:56 am
about a planet in the 12th but conjunct the ascendant….mine is Neptune 4 degrees in but conjunct Chiron and Jupiter as well. Neptune give an intuitive awareness of the larger environment. I can walk into a crowded room and know at once the psychological lay. I have also had the opportunities presented to use the highest spiritual qualities of Neptune in ceremonial dance to bring healing to the group.
By: Barehand on February 16, 2015
at 7:39 am
I am what would be consider an ‘ambivert.’ On the Myers-Briggs test, I score about 55/45 extrovert/introvert.
I do have 12th House planets (Mer/Sat. in Virgo) and Neptune Rises but I also have Moon and Sun both above the horizon. Moon is on the MC and Sun is in Leo.
I like quiet and solitude sometimes. I was an only child and simply got used to it. I love to read and so research. I’ve never liked most parties unless they had a theme such as costumes or dinner but when I was younger I used to ‘party hearty’ and was out at clubs and at social occasions as much as possible. If I did that now, not only would I not have the energy but a 62 year old middle-aged flub bearing woman would look darn silly dancing her fat rear off all night at some club. It’s a good thing I don’t want to do this because this area is not known for clubs even for younger people and college students.
I used to prefer deep conversations but now small talk is the way to go most of the time as I keep the intensity to a few close friends. I must admit that I am bored talking with many women because they tend to center their chat on solely tv and their kids and grandkids. Except for light chat, I walk away from them.
I used to love big crowds but now they mostly bother me, mainly because people seem to have gotten more rude and loud in the last few years. If the crowd is civil, I don’t mind it in the least and I don’t need to retreat after being in one. As of late, I’ve developed a love of checking out many of Virginia’s fine farm and boutique wineries.
I think I’ve lost a lot of steam as far as sociability goes. I live in an area and situation where social contact is some what limited for me at this time, although I do have some friends. This makes sense as a good deal of my chart has dumped into my 12th House by Progression.
When I do go out and about (aside from work) I can be very outgoing and am not at all shy. I have never hesitated to speak my mind, which I think is a function of Moon/Uranus on the MC.
By: MEL0810 on February 5, 2013
at 7:41 am
Thanks, Melo, I was thinking along the same lines about ambiverts–12th house or Neptune/Pisces or Pluto/Scorpio strong for the introvert part, more sociable signs like Leo, Libra, or Gemini for the extrovert part.
I too MIGHT pass for an ambivert in social settings where I feel comfortable, as I can fake extrovert for an hour or two, but then I wanna go home and turn the phone off. My ambi-mix is the 12th house Sun/Jupiter in Cancer plus Pluto on the Ascendant. But a triple conjunction in Leo in the 1st on the angle and a stellium in Gemini in the 11th for the quasi-extrovert part. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on February 5, 2013
at 11:07 am
Well, I have Pluto conj. Sun in Leo so my sun goes both ways, so to speak! LOL! My Asc. is Libra but Neptune Rises on it, closely followed by Mars, which to me, just confuses the whole issue.
One thing I have noticed having Moon smack dab on my MC: I can not go out in public without running into people I know. If you are into a ‘quiet’ mode, you’d best not step out your door with me in tow.
I mean,hells bells,I can go to New York City and step off the train and run into someone I knew from way back when. Last time I was there, I ran into three people (none of whom were together), at three different venues, who I hadn’t seen in ages.It seems totally seclusion is not in my karma/dharma this time around. I’d probably run into an old acquaintance if I tried to hide out in a cave deep in the woods!
By: MEL0810 on February 5, 2013
at 12:14 pm
I have Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto in my 12th house. I’ve always been an introvert. I’ve been witness to the preference in American society to prefer extroverted behavior over introversion and always felt out of place because of it.
I am very creative and also need complete solitude to achieve my inner gnosis in whatever projects I’m undertaking. I have a very spiritual background, but also one that has been filled with much sorrow.
I’ve been studying astrology on and off for over a decade, but not until my Saturn Return did I feel such a strong pull towards increasing my knowledge of this great science/art.
thanks for you post!
By: Tiffani on February 5, 2013
at 7:42 am
Thanks for sharing, Tiffani, a big stellium there, and I find much to relate to. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on February 5, 2013
at 11:01 am
Wow, I too felt a strong pull on my Saturn return. I’m currently going through a lot of Saturn transits being that I have a lot of planets in Scorpio and Sagittarius. Funny thing is that after I saw your comment I remember thinking why have a gotten so deep into astrology after the last two years. I was always attracted to it, but now I want to dwell myself in it. It has touched my soul in such a way, I feel as if it has always been embedded in me and I finally found that part of me I’ve been missing. I don’t know if anybody else feels that way about astrology. Once I learned the basics, a whirl of thoughts about life, connections and symbols made so much sense in ways that if I spoke to others about it they would think Ive lost my wits. Mercury conjunct Uranus in the 12th in Sagittarius both conjunct my Sagittarius ascendant with Neptune in the 1st house.
By: Izzybella on July 13, 2016
at 11:07 am
It’s interesting how many creative introverted types say they need complete solitude and quite to be creative. I wonder if there is a difference between them and us (somewhat) more extroverted creative types. I always seem to need background chatter, such as a TV, in order to create or even to study. The only time I need the complete quiet is when I sleep or read and even then I can still function with some background noise. The only noises that really bothers me to no end are loud, screaming people and loud bass rap and hip hop music. That I can not abide.
By: MEL0810 on February 5, 2013
at 12:21 pm
Hi Donna,
Considering the element of introversion on an empty Gemini 12th house: could this be someone who is more hesitant to speak up? Even though Mercury is not placed there physically?
By: ejrunyon on February 5, 2013
at 10:57 am
Yes, I believe so, EJ. Perhaps feeling that speaking up would be too self-revealing or make you feel too vulnerable. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on February 5, 2013
at 10:59 am
That’s quite a thought.
I’ll have to go with my chart reading instincts more often.
Perhaps looking at empty houses, and asking these types of questions will bring in a new layer to a reading for folks.
By: ejrunyon on February 5, 2013
at 11:02 am
Three planets in the 12th — Neptune, Mercury, and Mars — in Sagittarius. I think I’m an extroverted introvert. I need people, but I also need peace and quiet and time for meditation and refelction. While I live in New York City, my home is my sanctuary. I’m a listener definitely. I think the aspects of my chart that lead to some extroverted tendencies are my Moon in the 7th and my Sun in the 11th. I am also Sag rising with my chart ruler in Leo, both fire signs.
By: katiesweetman on February 5, 2013
at 12:28 pm
@katie, I have just discovered this blog about the 12th house, and I can so relate to the idea of being an extrovert/introvert. I used to wonder, how can one be both, as I have been feeling like this for years. It just didn’t make sense. I’m Sun, moon and mercury in Sagittarius ( all 5th house, in Placidus, in Koch, moon/mercury :conjunct, are in the 4th house, though I relate more to the 5th house, and see Placidus as more relevant). I have leo ascendant, so yes, there is the fiery, fun, sociable, playful and cheeky persona, enjoying being with friends and groups (Jupiter in the 11th- Gemini, of course) , moon/mercury sextile venus- so I like people,
but at the same time, mercury/moon, squares Saturn /Saturn is in the eighth house ( maybe showing shyness, reserve, inhibitions etc, Jupiter semi-squaring the ascendant, Sun quintile Saturn ( assuming this can mean reserve, quietness too?). And Pluto lives in my 3rd house, so I guess he or she gives off a still waters vibe too, LOL!! So, amongst other things, this shows some intoversion in myself.
When I came upon the 12th house blog, I had assumed my 12th house didn’t have much power- it looked empty: Cancer on the cusp. Then I started investigating what Cancer meant here, and to boot, discovered I had an asteroid, there, Vesta ( Vesta trine Saturn to be exact !)- While I’m getting to grips to what Vesta means, I read that Cancer 12th house, showed a nurturing and caring side, a mother to all. I was a bit surprised, as I see myself as shy. Then I remembered a series of tarot readings, I had last year, and each and everyone of those readings emphasised the nurturing, caring side theme. Was I not aware that people saw me as very nurturing, even a mother figure? No, I wasn’t aware at all, even if friends had said so, in passing. It suddenly made sense- but all these years, I hadn’t even given it a thought.
Then I realised that the 12th house, for me, with Cancer on the cusp, is about re-charging batteries, in solitude, finding space ( however small) to do that- be it through travelling solo, writing down thoughts, creating art and dance in my own space, needing to get away from too much noise ( from time to time, even though I can shut off and concentrate in noisy environments). I had assumed because my 12th house was empty it meant nothing, or it meant I had no 12th house talents/gifts. There is a link between my 12th house Vesta and my Saturn in the eighth- so I am sure it reinforces setting boundaries for both my unconscious collective (12th) and subconscious , as they are both in water signs. M’mm, so I’ve learned something new about what the 12th house is , for many people, and what it means for me, too, today! Yes, one can be extrovert/introvert. On the myers-briggs scale, i think I am INFJ, and they are sometimes mistaken for extroverts. Thanks, Donna, again.
By: zoraidagitana1965 on February 5, 2013
at 3:12 pm
Thank you for sharing!! I have my Moon in Leo in the 12th so I relate to what you’ve said!
By: msfullroller on April 27, 2014
at 10:57 am
I think one indicator of introverts versus extroverts is how introspective one tends to be. I am not a total shallow fluff ball , but neither am I what I would call truly introspective.
By: MEL0810 on February 5, 2013
at 12:29 pm
So, introvert/introspective makes sense. Extrovert/extro-what?
By: Donna Cunningham on February 5, 2013
at 1:01 pm
Hi Donna, I have a virgo stellium of Uranus, Mercury, Pluto, Venus in the 12th conjunct asc and looooove my own space (introverted) but on the other hand my stellium contains sun & moon in the 1st house & people see me as a bright bubbly personality (extroverted) so i supose ambivert is me:-)
By: Christina on February 5, 2013
at 1:15 pm
Sounds like a PRODUCTIVE combination: able to focus and concentrate on being a stellar employee with Virgo’s plethora of useful skills and willingness to serve in the 12th PLUS good people skills. A tendency to overwork is one drawback. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on February 5, 2013
at 2:03 pm
I’m a 12th house Sun who is both an introvert and a hermit. 😉 I’m shy as well, so I don’t enjoy meeting new people, and I absolutely hate group activities. I am married, and often the “big” extroverted energy of my Aries husband can be overwhelming. As much as I love him, I feel more relaxed when I’m alone.
By: ***** on February 5, 2013
at 1:43 pm
I think people consider me extroverse but I’m not, but perhaps I’m not even introverse, I only need time for dreams and for immagination in this way I recharge my energie and the faith in the future. Aries rising conj. Moon, with 4 planets in house 12 pisces.
By: astroscoprendo on February 5, 2013
at 2:00 pm
I would definitely class myself as introverted, but only have Uranus in the 12th, conjunct asc. It’s the ruler of my IC. But I have a strong Scorpio influence, so introversion goes with the territory. I hate being in big groups; I feel completely overwhelmed by all the energy. Small talk is a mystery (empty 3rd house). Socialising in busy bars, surrounded by noise is my idea of hell. Even as a teenager, I preferred ‘old men’s pubs’ with a few friends. But I do have a intrinsic need to socialise – I am a Gemini sun after all. But it’s always carefully chosen close friends.
I just did the Myers Brigg you suggested. How’s this for a Scorpio…. As do other Introverted Thinkers, ISTJs often give the initial impression of being aloof and perhaps somewhat cold. Effusive expression of emotional warmth is not something that ISTJs do without considerable energy loss.
By: Rose on February 5, 2013
at 2:25 pm
Great to see you here again Donna.
Interesting about the extrovert and possible less introversion?
Me – no planets in 12th House, Sag on cusp of 11th and 12th
Sag Sun, Mercury, Leo Moon Pluto, Jupiter Aries
All planets above the horizon (out in the World) bar Jupiter (3rd) and Uranus 6th
Thus a very extrovert outgoing chart – I am an extrovert, but can be shy at times and hold back – communication is very important, enjoy quiet alone time but it’s not a necessity.
Extro – vert – one dictionary meaning is ‘somebody whose interests are directed outside the self’ – which I do a great deal of the time but yet I can be rather introspective as well. I look at myself and others from a psychological perspective – what makes then tick – this maybe the be the Sag and 9th house planets rather than the extrovert part.
Introspective, one dictionary meaning is ‘examining feelings – involving, or frequently undertaking, a deep and candid examination of your own feelings, thoughts, and motives” I think you can be an extrovert and still be introspective – I do this meaning of introversion a lot and some so called introverts are not truly introspective at all and avoid looking at themselves.
Another dictionary meaning of Introvert is ‘tending to examine yourself rather than communicating. tending to examine your own feelings, thoughts, or ideas rather than communicating with other people’ I examine but talk and share these thoughts and ideas – a lot – extroversion coming in here 🙂
To me extrovert is – ‘more out there than others’ – outgoing, loving company, gregarious, social, assertive but even the outgoing charts often have planet placements in them that can lessen this in certain aspects of their lives.
That is my 2 pennies worth 🙂
By: Ineke on February 5, 2013
at 2:36 pm
Well said, Ineke!
By: zoraidagitana1965 on February 5, 2013
at 3:36 pm
I was once told that I was an introvert who has LEARNED how to be an extrovert, which made a lot of sense to me. 12h Sun & Saturn in Scorpio learned how to do some very extroverted things, like improv theatre, from my Merc 1st house Scorpio, radically transforming my ‘fixed’ 12h nature with mutable Mercury. Pluto-Leo on my MC empowered me to make a ‘dramatic transformation’ from 12H FIXED introvert nature.
These transformations took place when my progressed Sun was in Sag, and I think that was also a factor in ‘progressing’ beyond and transcending the feeling of being stuck and ‘fixated on’ my introvert nature.
What’s odd is that I now embrace and accept and AM more introverted than I was during that Sag phase of my progressed sun, as my progressed sun moves into another introverted sign, Capricorn.
But maybe not so odd: The degrees of the planets in my chart all have profound introvert meanings (according to Elias Lonsdale’s amazing Inside Degrees). I have found his degree interpretations probably the most helpful in dealing with my deeply introverted nature.
But here’s the big astrological thing for me: I have an overall ‘cauldron of destiny’ pattern to my chart, and there is no way, I mean this, absolutely no way at all that I could possibly handle that configuration if my Sun was not in my 12h. For me, the 12h Sun in Scorpio has been, and is now, at almost 60, more than ever, the key to my ego-Self having the sheer introspective stamina to fulfill my destiny. My destiny came to me in a dream at age 4 and I have never forgotten it. I expect that, too, is a 12H Sun/Introvert kind of experience, having a dream define your life.
Also, and finally, I am beginning to think that we are in a 12h ERA in human history, when we have to bring one stage of human existence to its end and conclusion (the patriarchal age), and begin the next.
By: mimispirit on February 5, 2013
at 3:26 pm
Hi, Mimi, thanks for bringing the progressed chart into the picture–I beleive you’re onto something about progressions bringing about a change from introvert to extrovert or vice versa.
I, too, have noticed definite changes and evolutions over the years when my natal planets progressed into new signs, and if I tracked back, I wouldn’t be surprised if when my 12th house Cancer Sun and Jupiter progressed out of the 12th and over my Leo Ascendant, I did get over some of my extreme shyness and self-consciousness. Before long, I was able to give lectures with a good degree of comfort. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on February 5, 2013
at 4:00 pm
Mimi, regarding theater and extroverts: I have known a fair number of actors/theater geeks and there are many introverts among them. These people seem to be split into two different types regarding theater. One type is the proverbial attention seeker who loves the limelight and tends to live for applause and the other is the type that tends to shun publicity and immerses themselves in the role to the point they tend to disappear into it. I think the first type is Leonian/5th House and the second more Neptunian/12th House.
By: MEL0810 on February 6, 2013
at 7:01 am
Donna & Mimi, I have noticed that I am less social since many of my 10th and 11th House Planets dumped into my 12th by Progression. I
By: MEL0810 on February 6, 2013
at 7:03 am
Thoughts on prog Sun & introvert/extrovert: Started out w/29° Sun in Libra, progressed into Scorpio shortly after birth=shy child & young adult; progressed into Sagittarius around 1st Saturn Return=much more adventurous & extroverted; progressed into Capricorn around 2nd Saturn Return=return to more introverted behaviors without the painful shyness, faaar less adventurous though !
By: Diane L on February 7, 2013
at 7:56 am
That’s good, Diane. I had one more lightbulb about progressions of 12th house planets. When a progressed planet changes signs, it always moves into the next-door sign, which is in the opposite polarity.
So very extroverted signs are followed by very introverted signs–Aquarius becomes Pisces, Libra becomes Scorpio,and so on. And very introverted signs are followed by very extroverted ones–Scorpio is followed by Sagittarius, Pisces is followed by Aries, and so on.
(I know, like most theories, it works well except when it doesn’t!)
This discussion on progressions has become unexpectedly fruitful, hasn’t it? I have to confess, I don’t really use progressions in my work, but I definitely feel the shift when they change signs. It’s a big change, but takes time to become firmly entrenched. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on February 7, 2013
at 8:10 am
Yes. Sometimes, it’s hard to differentiate between nature and learned behavior. What would you do and how would you be if there was no societal, familial or employment pressure? That shows your true nature.
By: Jara on February 6, 2013
at 1:05 am
Hi Donna.
Got 9 True and 9 False on the test and 2 ? AMBIVERT Anyway I once lived in the cities and can manuver well and even lead groups and can talk to large audiences( the larger the group the more inspired I am) without a shy bone in my body; however I escaped the city for the wilderness. 6 million acre Nat. Park that is roadless and one gets around by canoe and portage. Total heaven for me.
My seclusion MUST be in unscathed environments with nature in full bloom…any season. There my soul is replenished and I can admire the handiwork of the Creator …merge consciousness with all that is . I study on the world of man and comtemplate the future …..get plenty of exercise that my body craves.Do Art, Write and practice karate.
Neptune in the 12th , 4 degrees from ascendant and conjunct with Chiron and Jupiter also in the 12th..
Mars Uranus,in Gemini ( 9th) parralle Pluto in Leo and Venus conjunct Saturn in cancer in the 10th and they all parralle the MC in Cancer with my North Node.Neptune squares the nodes so my spiritual inclinations are not in step with the prevailing materialistic culture. It saddens me how other countries are duped by it.
However I find that the least lettered ( who populate wide open spaces of the countryside) of the dominant American culture have the most common sense and clear sight on the BS social/politic. Kind of cracks me up!.
The worst thing for me about the cities is all the racket , electric and telephone wires marring the landscape ,,,the ugliness of it. Buzzzzing fridgrators…always pushed them out of my apartments. Now I find out the worst radiation comes from fridgerators and transformers on Electric poles…kids growing up within 3 city blocks from Transformer boxes get lukemia from it. I believe it and could always feel them and my nervous system didnt like it.
I also saw big Chinese city dwellers and a girl from Chicago completely freak out by being in a small town on the edge of said wilderness park. They fled back to the cities so fast it would make your head spin! Ha Ha Ha GOOD we dont want the city to move into the countryside. They missed wall to wall people and the sound of dump trucks in the early morning! ????
By: Barehand on February 5, 2013
at 4:24 pm
All of this describes me to a T. And yet, my 12th House is empty. In my progressed chart, the 12th is empty. However, all of my planets, except for Neptune in the 8th, are below the horizon. . . INTJ on Briggs-Myers; also very accurate.
introverts, and that we both love and need our times of solitude. Many of us find that being in the company of others—especially in groups—for any length of time can be anywhere from distracting to draining.
long periods of solitude and total silence—no television, no phone calls, not even music while I work. I need it for the introspection, contemplation, and outright drifting and dreaming needed to delve deeply into a topic.
focus, concentration, and the ability to work alone for long periods
the ones who prefer listening to speaking, reading to partying; who innovate and create but dislike self-promotion
so noise sensitive that being out in public for several hours is jarring in a way that only long hours of solitude can relieve.
By: Mary on February 5, 2013
at 5:34 pm
With Piscies on my empty, except for Juno, 12th cusp and Neptune conjunct my Libra Sun in the 6th, I guess I am 1st cousin to a 12th House person. I used to crave being out with a friend or two. My Asc. is Aries which perhaps gives me my bombastic side. I am learning to control that because it appalls my more introverted self. I have learned to talk less and more appropriately over the last few years. How I made myself uncomfortable and didn’t even know why. Uranus is 0 degrees Cancer…singleton….3rd House…probably didn’t help…good article about Vesta in a recent Mountain Astrologer.
What a pleasure to read your articles, Donna!
By: Carolyn K Cornish on February 5, 2013
at 5:36 pm
I also have Neptune Square MC….maybe a kissing first cousin!
By: Carolyn K Cornish on February 6, 2013
at 3:39 am
Thank you, Carolyn for the reference about a Vesta article. I will have a look at it , now. I like the sound of Vesta! 🙂
By: zoraidagitana1965 on February 6, 2013
at 11:00 am
I love this topic Donna! This topic is near and dear to my heart as I have a Sun/Mercury/Chiron conjunction in the 12th house! My Sun is 3 degrees from my Ascendent, which I think is one reason why I feel like an extraverted introvert, or an ambivert. I tested as an ENFP the last time I took the Myers-Briggs.
As a child I was actually a lot more introverted, reading a lot and not liking to talk to people I didn’t know well, spending lots of time at home, in nature and daydreaming. But my Sun has been coming out more and more the older I get 🙂 Some of what you wrote in a previous article makes sense in terms of the progressed chart putting our planets in different houses.
As a Sun conjunct the Asc/12th house person, at this stage in my life, I love being around people and spiritual/conscious communities (I have Venus in Gemini! and Moon in Aquarius), but I notice a tendency to pack myself to the brim with social engagements and then I burn out and need to recharge through solo dreaming/creative time. I also can’t relate to needing total solitude or total quiet to do my creative work, I often love working in cafes. For me, sometimes there is a fear of too much solitude which is a huge 12th house theme as well!
Have you read the Highly Sensitive Person books by Elaine Aron? They have helped me immensely in valuing my high sensitivity that is not normally valued very much in this culture. I think my high sensitivity and being an empath relates a lot to my 12th house planets.
By: AstroBella on February 5, 2013
at 8:04 pm
Yes, I read the books on Highly Sensitive People some time ago and identified strongly, I almost included them in the resource list for this post, so thanks for mentioning them. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on February 5, 2013
at 10:23 pm
Daring Greatly, by Brene Brown, a ted.com speaker, illuminates the self undoing part of the 12th. I don’t like the title but found the book and her youtube videos life changing. Shame, vulnerability, dealing with shame…. dealing with the feelings of shame..
By: Carolyn K Cornish on February 8, 2013
at 4:08 am
Thanks for sharing that, Carolyn.
By: Donna Cunningham on February 8, 2013
at 5:21 am
I totally relate to what you wrote about scheduling a social life that tires you.
Alone in a relaxed yet interesting crowd gives Venus in Gemini enough to observe or some other kind of background noise while “recharging” (daydreaming, reading, writing, surfing the Net, arts & crafts, etc.) the 12th house planets is the best. 🙂
I attend a church that has friendly, familial vibes because I like the spiritual energy. But then I have a problem with the practice of everyone “having to” circulate, hug and mingle with everyone else – or risk getting called “unfriendly”. Now I sneak in after the group hug time and sit in the back.
By: Jara on February 6, 2013
at 1:01 am
Brrr! I used to detest that about workshops–the being forced to hug everyone at the end whether you knew them or not! I’d make up reasons to leave early. NOT the happy hugger. By now, with lots of work on my Pluto, it’s okay for people to hug me. I have Venus in Gemini, too a part of my Gemini stellium in the 11th. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on February 6, 2013
at 5:01 am
Myers-Briggs: INFJ
I wonder if I’m a bit of a ambivert – with my Mars-Saturn conjunction in a Gemini 12th house, I need my peace and quiet. However, I have an Aries Sun opposite Uranus that likes being out and about, seeing new places… until I need a rest and go looking for the nearest library… so I can curl up with a sci-fi book. Heh.
I’ve got the book ‘Calm’ on reserve for me at the library at the moment. 🙂
By: Jan the Alan Fan on February 6, 2013
at 12:15 am
Ah, that’s clever–never thought of getting it at the library. And yes, the 12th house plus Sun-Uranus does sound like an ambivert. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on February 6, 2013
at 4:58 am
I used to consider myself to be an ambivert, but after many years in sales-related jobs, I’m worn out on the public. I prefer to work with small groups of people or 1-on-1. I scored 19/20 on Susan Cain’s quiz.
I have Sagittarius Rising and Neptune, Venus and Mars in Gemini, and Mercury-Jupiter in Leo. I appear to be an extrovert. As a kid, I remember feeling hesitant about approaching new children but knowing that I’m “supposed” to be outgoing so I’d force myself to initiate friendships.
Now, I get approached by many and initiate few conversations with strangers. I enjoy observing people…from afar…online…with some kind of buffer.
12th house Moon and Uranus:
sextile MC
trine 8th house Sun
square 8th house Mercury-Jupiter conjunction (Uranus only)
By: Jara on February 6, 2013
at 12:50 am
I think the planets that are in the 12th and what sign(s) is in there describe how a person deals with solitude. I like to eat (Moon), be on the Internet (Uranus), pray, cry, love, have sex, deeply research etc. alone or in an intimate setting (Scorpio).
By: Jara on February 6, 2013
at 1:11 am
Good interpretation, Jara, I like that. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on February 6, 2013
at 5:02 am
Jara & Donna, Virgo 12th here with Mercury and Saturn in 12. I tend to read and do research when alone. I also prefer to do housework and organization projects when alone with only my cat and the hum of appliances in the background for company.
With that 12th House Saturn, the have been times, per the classical interpretation of that planet in 12, that I have had extreme solitude/confinement/structure forced upon me and I did not like that one bit. Thank G-D that that seems to be in my past. Progression has pushed Saturn over my Ascendant. Interestingly, when most of that enforced confinement took place, Pluto and Uranus were transiting my 12 th.
By: MEL0810 on February 6, 2013
at 7:14 am
Wow, this blog post of yours, Donna, totally fits how I am as well. I have my south node, Mars and Neptune in the 12th house of Libra. It seems to me I also need to let go of absolutely everything, of the ego that comes from my social role, get close to nature and the divine.
This is my 12th house undoing to be One with God. My goal is to be a rock or a wave. .
Bless you, Donna, You are truly wonderful!
Hillary
By: Hillary Adrian Hitt on February 6, 2013
at 1:52 am
Wow–big commitment to spirital devotion with those placements. It sounds like you’re handling it well, making excellent progress, quite the spiritual warrior! Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on February 6, 2013
at 5:04 am
Wow! what a topic Donna Thank you! I believe I am the first Cap Sun in the 12th to post here. I have Aquarius rising. I have not taken the tests yet. I expect to find I am an ambivert. I can handle and enjoy the soCIAL outside milieu for so long and then…..ESCAPE!
For most of my life I could fashion and protect my private time…then I got married. To a Libra with a Mars Mercury conjunction. PHEW!!! There goes my privacy and quiet. It has been a sacrifice for me and when ever I am blessed with any time alone it is akin to High Church.
This subject in your Skywriter series is a cornucopia of treasures and I enjoy reading about all of you posting above. How many of us love being early risers? It is a rare thing for me to sleep past 6am and the mornings are my most productive.
By: tinapitta on February 6, 2013
at 5:14 am
Interesting that you bring that up, Tina. In fact, I often wake up well before sunrise and have to rush to the computer, because ideas for my writing are coming faster than I can process them. I believe that, like many famous people of history (Einstein, for example) the answers to what I’m working on come from my dreams. If I DON’T get up, I lose them when I go back to sleep and they’re gone, so tired or not, I have to get up.
Perhaps it is most true of those of us with the Sun in the 12th, as the sun itself is close to the horizon at that point, preparing for sunrise. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on February 6, 2013
at 5:44 am
NOT an early riser except to go to work for a living. If left to my own devices, I’d stay up until 3-4 a.m. and rise up around Noon. I have a friend that jokes about me always being up by the ‘crack of Noon.” I only see the sun rise if I am still up at night! My favorite time of day is sundown. The lights (and most of my planets) in my chart are above the horizon in 10 & 11 and I have Neptune, Queen of the Night, Ascending. All the Neptune Ascending people I have met are night people.
By: MEL0810 on February 6, 2013
at 7:20 am
@ MELO810 I like to go to bed at 3 am in the morning, too, if I can get away with it ! It’s probably because it’s very quiet and I can write and have my thoughts to myself, or even create choreographies, or surf the net. I have many friends who the same, but in general, people think you’re a little strange, if you are still awake in the early hours .
In a way, perhaps that’s not so different from waking up at dawn and getting your thoughts down, before they disappear
By: zoraidagitana1965 on February 6, 2013
at 11:40 am
Melo810,
! have Neptune rising and my usual time to get up is 5 AM so I can be alert for the changing of the light….my favorite time Sunrise of Sunset!
By: Barehand on February 7, 2013
at 11:51 am
I tried a Myers-Briggs test last night, to see if anything had changed. I’m now INFP, when I was an INFJ some years back.
I suspect I am a bit of both, so most likely move back and forth between the two. I don’t think anyone can be 100% anything, as hormones, energy levels moods, situations and reactions change all the time.
I do find that I like working behind the scenes, and while I am able to enjoy being in groups ( but I hate parties, as I feel very uncomfortable, I prefer one- to ones immensely, and need a lot of space, or time alone, to re-charge, so I am with everyone , who’s posted on here. I do find that I get drained and overwhelmed, and can find myself, withdrawing/retreating, just to get those energy levels up. I hadn’t realised this was suomething to do with the 12th house.
By: zoraidagitana1965 on February 6, 2013
at 5:17 am
I have never considered myself an introvert but I love my solitude! having grown up as the youngest of 5, lived with women in college and after, it was not until I lived alone that I grew to love it. I worked in the cosmetic sales and traveled all over the metro New York area, I had to “be on” when I was working. I grew to love the long drive home so I did not have to talk to anyone!! my 12th house stellium is Moon in Taurus, Mars, Uranus, Venus in Gemini (intercepted)
By: Peggy Schick on February 6, 2013
at 5:30 am
Great, incisive article.
I am introverted but able to act as an extrovert if need be. I have a stellium in the tenth house (the Sun, the Moon and Mercury) but my Venus is in the 12th in Leo and I have noticed that I need long periods of solitude and a long recovery time before I can ‘perform’ in public again. My progressed Sun is moving to the 12th house soon and I am actually looking forward to quiet meditation and a great deal of soul searching.
By: symbolreader on February 6, 2013
at 5:38 am
Yes, that kind of commitment to looking inward and soul searching is a big benefit of a transit or progression to the 12th house, because that time of retreat can bring so much growth. We’ll have to explore that more when we have our Question and Answer session on February 17th. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on February 6, 2013
at 5:49 am
A good deal of my chart has progressed into my 12th Virgo House. No time for much soul searching. Almost all l do these days is work and do chores when I get home. Less ‘me” time and time for introspection than when everything was still in 11 and 10.
By: MEL0810 on February 6, 2013
at 7:24 am
Donna, my progressed moon has, is currently in the 12th house, in Leo. I had a look on Astrodienst tables on progressions, and checked my progressions for a the next couple of years. At some point, the progressed Pluto-Uranus conjunction will take up residence in my twelfth house ( at the moment, my ascendant is progressed Virgo, in my Leo ascendant), so both planets are in retrograde motion. What does this mean, in terms of accessing the twelfth house, or living with the
By: zoraidagitana1965 on February 7, 2013
at 3:14 pm
The planets aren’t moving backwards, the progressed Ascendant is moving forward, as would the 12th house cusp. So, yes the /natal planets/ are in the 12th house by progression, but if you’re working with progressions, you’d want to pay more attention to what house the progressed Moon is in. The progressed Uranus and Pluto would not have moved more than a degree or so of the natal positions because they are very slow moving, only minutes of arc a day. (Unless you were using solar arc progressions, which are very artificial because they progress everything the same number of degrees as the Sun, creating planetary positions that never occurred in real time.) Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on February 7, 2013
at 4:22 pm
I have another insight on the 12th House from personal experience.
First, the 12th House rules distant places where people not know you — so that you are free to change into something new.
This has happened to me on at least 3 occasions – in the 1970s, when I went to distant places and came out of my shell; in 1989-90, when I began traveling to Eastern Europe to visit astrologers and see the Berlin Wall come down and ended up losing 125 lbs because I changed so much; in 2004-06 (P Moon in Leo in 12th), when I got the Epstein-Barr Virus and accompanying neuralgia (in pain for 2 years) — life altering in my studies of medical astrology.
I am where I am today really because of these transits and progressions…actually, all of the transits through the 12th House.
During one 12th House transit, I got my first tattoo (the first of 3) but all in private places. With this, I could never go back to being the Old Lynn because the Old Lynn would never have tattoos.
I will add my last observation of the 12th House personality — we can be the Guinea Pigs of the Zodiac. We experience events, situations, emotional events which, when we find a solution, we solve these problems for others.
This has been a theme in my life.
By: Lynn Koiner on February 8, 2013
at 5:56 am
I love those observations, Lynn. One thing that strikes me about what you said about distant places allowing you to chance into something new. I suspect it has to do with shift of angles in the relocated chart. (You can see them easily on an Astro*Carto*Graphy map.) So a natal planet in the 12th could move into a more angular position. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on February 8, 2013
at 8:02 am
First, I cannot find our February 8 posts but this is my reply to that….
Good thought about Astro-Carto-Graphy but only one transit changed Mercury. All of the others kept my natal planets in the same houses. And, I observed the 12th House ruling distant places where people do not know you so that you can transform long before the trip to Europe.
I later learned that there is some support for this in Vedic astrology, a system that also classifies the 12th House as ruling foreign people and locations. There is more to the definition than this but this is all that I can remember at the moment.
Instead of going into an ashram, one can go to a distant place instead.
I feel that strangers do not know how you have been before so you can cultivate a new persona for yourself.
However, what you say about A-C-G is an excellent point and something I have advised for years. Clients who have a lot of planets in Cadent Houses often spend a lot of time ‘thinking about’ and not ‘doing.’ I advise that they change their time zone to pull those planets out of Cadent House, at best into angular Houses. It is a good point to make.
By: Lynn Koiner on February 9, 2013
at 4:46 am
A good amplification of these points, Lynne. I did come into my own in foreign countries, but then I have Jupiter in the 12th. I was most often invited to speak in foreign countries and had foregin translations of my books in places where there were Midheaven lines for my relocated planets. For instance, I had Pluto on the Midheaven in Germany, and, some years, my book Healing Pluto Problems sold as many copies in German translation as in English. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on February 9, 2013
at 4:59 am
Donna, your comment about Germany brought a smile to my face. I used to take a suitcase filled with books to Berlin and Prague. And, I remember your great generosity in sending your Flower Essence publication to me by over-night delivery so that I could take them to Berlin, specifically to a woman who has had Multiple Sclerosis since the 1970s. She has been using many Flower Essences and I am amazed that she still gets around. She LOVED your publication!
And, your Pluto book was very popular in Europe and I took many copies.
Donna, there was another very basic book that you wrote in the 1970s about the Planets and Houses. Basic, yes, but it was a great eye-opener. For example, for the Houses, you said that they rule your attitude towards affairs of that House (based upon childhood experiences) and this determines your experience of that House (have I got this right?).
This concept was so important and I used it when I first went to Prague in 1990. This non-fatalistic approach was such a surprise to the very Fated-type classical astrologers there at that time. There were even some astrologers who would classify a chart as Un-Readable. When they asked about this, I said that all charts are readable but some astrologers just do not know how to interpret the chart.
Under a very fated political system, there were always discussions in those days about Fate and Free Will. Because the government gave them no free will, life was very fated. Even in 1990, people were standing in line outside of a small market to get bread and meat. No one thinks this way any more because they have freedom — and Malls and Super Markets!
Your comment brought up a lot of good memories. I still travel to Europe every November. I interview the astrologers there for short articles but they are very influenced by American astrologers (especially the young astrologers or those new to astrology). The internet has brought a great Renaissance in astrology through globalization.
By: Lynn Koiner on February 9, 2013
at 5:21 am
Wonderful memories, Lynne! I spent 10 blessed years traveling the globe to speak and meeting astrology folks. (I still have that passport as a keepsake.) Glad you got to do it too, and it looks like you opened some minds to new ideas and approaches to astrology.
It sounds like you’re referring to a chapter on the houses from An Astrological Guide to Self-Awareness. When that finally went out of print, I did a total revision and update, then issued it as an ebook. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on February 9, 2013
at 5:53 am
Am so glad to see you posting again, Donna! This series is much appreciated! Too much activity in my 12th – I long to understand this journey and my propensity toward solitude!
MB score = INFP
Sun (Leo), Mercury, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Uranus in 12th
Pluto on Leo Asc
Never felt comfortable in my Leo skin. Painfully shy as child. Developed a more ambivert tendency during middle years; but felt relief returning to solitude after a period of social activity. Felt there were no boundaries between myself and others; easily drained and needed quiet. As I approach 60, have returned to a life of quiet contemplation where I do not seek friendships and keep the ones I do have at arm’s length.
During ambivert phase, got college degree after age 40. Founded a Habitat for Humanity in our local town, though getting up in front of people made me sick to my stomach every time. And ironically, (true to my 12th house nature), I work in one of the few institutions for the disabled left in our country.
Thank you Donna for being out there!!
By: mumzifer on February 6, 2013
at 9:43 am
@ mumzifer I struggled a lot, growing up, with a Leo ascendant and a Sagittarius sun, so I think I know how you feel. But now understanding how the 12th house works ( I did more research to discover that Cancer on the 12th house can also mean a very private person,who feels deeply, but doesn’t always reveal what they feel: emotions could be buried deep, and I guess need safety to come up to the surface), in conjunction with the other elements in the natal chart, it makes a lot of sense, now.
I am still Leo ascendant, as there are things, such as the arts and creativity, my own appearance, etc which ring true, except I’m not a”stereotype ” of a Leo ascendant (“cook book description!) and I finally accept that. I was painfully shy as a child- mid twenties; it was an effort to go out and socialise with the wider crowd, but I got out and there and gradually developed confidence, life experience and skills. I think for a 12th house person, it is just accepting it’s ok to know you need time alone, solitude, or liking being in a small group, being artistic, creative, a thinker; the problem is society appears to value extroversion, or see it as more “normal”, when in reality I am sure there are graduations of extroversion/introversion. As Ineke points out, some extroverts have elements in their charts, which are probably more inward and reflective.
By: zoraidagitana1965 on February 6, 2013
at 10:59 am
Hi Mumzifer
I have found that undeveloped Leos are painfully shy. This circumstance drives them inward hopefully to the Heart Center which Leos rule and there they embrace thier self esteem via unification with all that is…or the Creater Life Force which makes all exsistance one. Therefore others are you and you are others….that realization ends shyness and instills compassion.
By: Barehand on February 7, 2013
at 12:03 pm
You really touched me with these words, Barehand. I have Venus in Leo in the 12th house and my Ascendant is in Leo too and I have always felt that it was my mission to seek a somewhat higher expression of the Leo archetype.
By: Symbol Reader on February 7, 2013
at 12:21 pm
Interesting thoughts, Barehand. And I agree with what you say, Symbol… “my mission to seek a somewhat higher expression of the Leo archetype.”
By: mumzifer on February 7, 2013
at 10:40 pm
My 13-year-old daughter (Venus in Libra/Moon in Scorpio in the twelfth house) took the Meyers- Briggs test this morning. She turned out to be INTJ, 100 percent on the introversion measure, only one percent between the thinking and feeling designations.
Plus, now she is fascinated by the humanmetrics website (mercury in Scorpio in the first house). Thank you for the link, Donna!
By: Mary Huhmann on February 7, 2013
at 9:06 am
How neat for a 13 year old immersed in that usual adolescent quest for finding her identity to get that kind of insight into her true self! I’ll bet it would have helped many of us 12th house types. Do show her some of the materials in the post about introverts and the 12th house. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on February 7, 2013
at 10:40 am
I have a Moon in Taurus and Jupiter in Gemini (Retrograde) located in my 12th house. To top it off 3 planets including my Scorpio Sun are in the 6th house. I feel that this has made me a weird introvert. I enjoy being with people but I can find it incredibly draining.
Also having Jupiter in Gemini (detremint) in Retrograde in 12th house sometimes can mean I hide my own talents and second guess myself too much.
I really agree with this point; “Many of us find that being in the company of others—especially in groups—for any length of time can be anywhere from distracting to draining.”
That is so me and it so true of us with 12th house placements!
By: AC on February 7, 2013
at 11:41 am
AC, I had read Jupiter retrograde can also mean someone who will be able to be a wise advisor or counsellor to others, in later years. Or someone who has a very rich inner life, or takes a more mystical approach to religion/spirituality, or needs to find own path, rather than follow conventional spiritual paths/ wisdom. I’ve got Jupiter in Gemini retrograde, also (11th house).
By: zoraidagitana1965 on February 7, 2013
at 3:20 pm
Indeed, I know 12th House introverts but I have to speak up on this matter, being a 12th House person myself and being a strong extrovert.
People often confuse introversion with the quiet extrovert. I am a M-B ENTP – and the extroversion is high. When I am on, I talk non-stop but, when I am off, I am completely quiet. When others are assertive and talk a lot, I shut down (typical of the 12th House Mercury).
When I am around a Gemini, I cannot stop talking, even when I had very bad laryngitis. But, I can just as quickly go quiet. People who do not know me well used to ask (when I am quiet) – did I hurt your feelings or it is just your 12th House planets. Yes, it was my 12th House planets in quiet mode. I cannot be ON 24/7…I need my retreat time.
So, be careful is classifying all 12th House people as introverts as they can just as easily be quiet extroverts.
By: Lynn Koiner on February 7, 2013
at 2:48 pm
A good point, Lynne. Maybe there should be a new category besides introvert/extrovert/ambivert called the situational introvert. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on February 7, 2013
at 3:17 pm
Oh, Donna, I identify with being a situational introvert….sometimes..lol
By: Carolyn K Cornish on February 12, 2013
at 4:09 am
My, oh my. I have a stellium in Cappie in my 12th. Saturn, Jupiter, and the Moon. It’s been a ride. Ride getting more intense, now Pluto is transiting my 12th. As IF………
By: Kathleen on February 9, 2013
at 12:17 pm
Hi Sistah!
By: swimming through the 12th on November 25, 2013
at 10:18 pm
So happy about all the 12th house articles and comments…I completely agree that the hardest part about it is OTHER people not getting it! If everyone understood why I crave solitude to an extreme…well, I wouldn’t have to have this SAME argument all the time about “bucking up” or “don’t be so dramatic” or “why can’t I just knock on your door if I need something?” LEAVE ME ALONE! ARGH!
I score INFJ but maybe on the border of something else. When I was young I was so shy I couldn’t speak. Neith and I had the same situation with progressions…29 degree Libra sun went straight into Scorpio after I was born. Its still there today…
Its interesting because now I have to be extroverted for my job as a bartender but it takes a lot of effort to project and be loud unless I’m already comfortable. It can be very draining to have small talk with people I don’t actually want to talk to. But in the end its all about charming people and my Venus/uranus in Sag 1st house seems to give me that extroverted point. Nothing much else . Sun 29 Libra 12th house, Mercury, Pluto, Saturn in Scorpio 12th..with all kinds of Neptune and Pluto strengths.
Oh yeah and sensitivity to sound! I didn’t realize this was a 12th house thing…its pretty major with me.
Wondering if anyone else With pronounced 12th has foot problems? Is that a question for another article?
By: orianaaa on February 11, 2013
at 6:56 am
“Wondering if anyone else With pronounced 12th has foot problems? Is that a question for another article?”
6 planets in 12th … and yes, major foot problems.
By: mumzifer on February 11, 2013
at 6:06 pm
You know, each zodiac sign has related body parts, and Pisces rules the feet, so Neptune and the 12th might by extension have something to do with them. Neptunian types tend not to be grounded, not on a solid footing.
By: Donna Cunningham on February 11, 2013
at 6:48 pm
I don’t know about the 12th House part but I know 2 people with Pisces Rising and they both have foot problems.
By: MEL0810 on February 11, 2013
at 8:45 pm
Neptune conj. Sun. Pisces 12th cusp. Neptune sq. MC. broke, twisted ankles, broke toes by stubbing them…mostly when I was younger. NN in Taurus. As I get older, I am conscious of grounding myself because it does not come naturally. Years ago, before studying, reading, being a member of a Healing community, I would know when I was hanging on to my forehead, metaphorically, with my toes. Much later I learned inhabiting my body felt much safe than not.
By: Carolyn K Cornish on February 12, 2013
at 4:05 am
I had to chuckle again here. I might say that with the ruler of my Asc in the 12th I have a foot fetish. I admire beautiful feet, I think I have really nice feet, I feel that Michael Lutin has the most beautiful feet that I have ever seen on a man (and most women) and, in 1988, when I broke my foot, I sat in a chair apologizing to my foot for not treating it better (I believe in talking to my body).
I am great saddened by feet that are treated badly. I have a friend with swelling in her feet and I feel so sorry for her feet.
I will paint and clip toenails, requested (does not happen often though and I do have standards). This is a secret that only one or two people know about….a 12th House secret.
My Mercury is in its Fall, Leo, so this does not make any difference. However, I feel that Mercury in the 12th affects the ears and I have ear problems since 6 months of age.
By: Lynn Koiner on February 12, 2013
at 4:51 am
Lynn, I hope the friend with swollen feet has had her kidneys and heart/circulation checked. I have very swollen feet and ankles (I used to have the good looking feet you mention – slender, well-shaped – I was told I could have been a foot model) and it is due to silent kidney disease. My feet swelling were the first obvious sign of the problem. (Kidney problems -Neptune Rising in LIbra /South Node Libra/Venus over all chart ruler)
By: MEL0810 on February 12, 2013
at 6:24 pm
By Neptune rising do you mean it’s in the 1st House (as opposed to most elevated planet)?
By: Mary on February 13, 2013
at 11:32 am
Yes, Neptune is Ascending. It’s the first planet over my Ascendant in my 1st House and in a loose conjunction with my Asendant.
By: MEL0810 on February 13, 2013
at 12:07 pm
Munzifer….yes I have Neptune in the 12th house and as a little kid in Indian Deculturation camp bording school the benedictine Nun torchered my feet from spring until fall . I was about 8 years old. She festered athletes foot…soaked them in warm salt water and wrapped them up and they got real bad…then every morning ripped off the bandages, tearing skin…soaked them and re wrapped them ( no air and moist) ….during the day they cracked and bled so I couldnt stand on them. This was in South Dakota and the howling wind shook the tall tall windows and my dream life was great.
By spring I got sick of being bed ridden and it was a special day when they carried long grass type stuff and had an unusually long Church thing…then afterwords the kids got treats they never otherwise got and had fun games. I was determined to go to the games no matter what. So I blanked my feet out of exsistence and got up , found a dress and fixed my hair and ran outside to play and I played all day . Towards evening I came in and then looked at my feet. The bandages were gone and they were completely healed. .
I have another foot story but space and time is limited.
By: Barehand on February 21, 2013
at 8:32 pm
I think the biggest misconception is that introverts are always quiet, shy and socially awkward. All through school my third house leo sun regularly got me in trouble for talking too much. Yet my twelfth house moon is deeply introverted, highly sensitive and thoroughly misunderstood. All four of my significant relationships were men with third house suns. All of them extroverted. In one way or another every relationship fell apart around this issue. “Why don’t you like my family/friends/neighbors/co-workers? They’re always nice to you!” It hurts to be criticised, judged and (incorrectly) labeled a snob. I am not passive-aggressive and controlling. The reason I don’t want to go IS because I want to stay home. And I really don’t mind if you go alone. In fact, I prefer it. Wait! That didn’t come out right …
By: Patricia on February 11, 2013
at 6:39 pm
Yes, that fits. I am a Sun in Gemini in the 12th house, and my Sun is square Saturn in Pisces which is conjunct my MC and which is in applying conjunction to Neptune in Virgo conjunct my IC. In the book ‘Astrological Counseling,’ the chapter you wrote is SO descriptive of me!! I would have believed you had my chart as a reference. May 30, 1935 at 6:45 am EST–Cancer 1 degree on the Ascendant.
By: Carole J Heath on February 12, 2013
at 7:08 am
Im also the one with 12th house and it drives me mad. I am such a loner and yet so crazy and wild around people. Something like an intro/extrovert … I’d rather be a happy person than feel so alone… even though I know loneliness is just an illusion as we are all part of the one. Still this isolation is awful. I am not sure if it’s my fault or the universe is forcing me to simply be alone.
By: atlanticcus on February 12, 2013
at 12:18 pm
YEs, 12H sun, mercury, venus, … INFP according to Briggs Myer, lots, and lots of time alone. sometimes i cry for the sheer beauty /joy of the living world, wounds me deeply to see / hear / experience suffering in all, especially animals, small children. keep people at arms length, rejection hurts too much. very, very few know me well… Introverted for sure. am almost always misunderstood, thought of cool and aloof. My home is my castle, warm and full of books, animals, my son, his friends, art, light, etc. Gardening is a pleasure. cooking, reading, etc. too. love to learn and grow…
By: paloma on February 12, 2013
at 2:10 pm
Wow! I could have written your words myself!! Also 12th house sun, mercury, venus…
By: mumzifer on February 12, 2013
at 4:38 pm
reading the comments above finally, i see that many have Leo Asc too, as I, which is a challenge with so many planets in this so private 12H. I am a Cancer too and i can relate to so much of what has been written here. Thank God for astrology, it gives me some peace of mind…. Blessings to all on this so private and sensitive journey…
By: paloma on February 13, 2013
at 9:27 pm
Hello I wanted to comment on a Mercury in the 12th on the ascendent, in Libra. I have difficulty sharing my thoughts with people, instead I try to draw them out by asking questions. If someone asks me about myself, I have difficulty talking about myself. And being in the 12th, I think my thoughts and motivations are hidden from myself as well. I distract a lot rather than be with myself. You’d think living alone one would get to know oneself, but I haven’t. Although the more tough life experiences I have, the more I rely on an inner something that says I will deal with it on my own.
By: marie567 on February 16, 2013
at 7:26 am
Hi Donna,
great to see you writing again. I’m so happy that you are tackling the 12th house. I have 12th h leo with sun, moon, pluto and uranus. Asc virgo with uranus conjuct. I also have dyslexia and trouble with processing info. I have trouble interpreting my chart and the associations that all these great people above are able to do with their charts. I’m finding with the current transits all in my 6th house I feel like instead of being able to hide out in my shell, I’m being unceremoniuosly dragged out into light and have no say in the matter what so ever. Is this a 12th house kind of association. Most of my other planets are in the 11th house and neptune in 2nd. Would this be why at the age of 46 I have finally been able to stand upto my bully of a mother and feel free and all the baggage associated with this is disappearing from the carousel.
By: Samantha on March 9, 2013
at 3:36 pm
Hello, Samantha, I was just writing about 12th house stelliums for the book on stelliums I have in process, and I can see its no easy task to master. I’m glad the series has been helpful to you. I would highly recommend Tracy Mark’s beautiful book on 12th house planets, Your Secret Self, as she goes through each of the planets placed in that house in dept. See the post about her book, part of the series of 12th house articles here. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on March 9, 2013
at 4:56 pm
Thank you Donna, will do. Sounds like just what I need.
By: Samantha on March 10, 2013
at 1:01 pm
I ordered The 12th House by Tracy Marks the day your post with info on the book arrived in my email – book arrived yesterday. Impressive and thank you for the recommend! With Mercury, Sun, north node and Venus glued together in 5 degree Virgo span in 12 — I needed this BOOST! Appreciated.
By: alchemynow on March 16, 2013
at 11:33 am
I have ny mars in 12th house, Wich makes me a loner. I find it difficult to concentrate in a Group of people. I have tried to change, because I have been told that I’m too lonely and its not healthy. I do feel lonely, but I still prefer aloneness. I love it. I can read, write, make music and study. What can i do with people? Listen to Their problems? Deal with Their manipulative ways? I prefer to Watch movies. At least their stories are entertaining. I usually attract the most boring extroverts because im incapable of saying no to anyone. Lately though I have started avoiding them. I ve had enough. It’s not their fault but I can’t stand them anymore. Personally i love being overlooked! When someone is interested in me it ‘s usually because they want my help and i day fuck that. Im finna remain a loner for ever.
By: 12th house mars on October 5, 2013
at 5:29 am
I have to laugh, because I’m a 12th house Sun and you sound so much like me on a bad day when I’m in a real snit about the kinds of things you describe. Donna Cunningham
By: Donna Cunningham on October 5, 2013
at 5:36 am
Hi, Donna. The more I read your articles, the more I get bigger picture of my own chart. 🙂
The second and third paragraphs are really touching. Uranus in the 12th house, I’m an introverted (score 17/20 of the above quiz) and, perhaps, have been trying hard to fix it some ways.
Sun in Virgo, Ascendant in Sagittarius. I do love travelling and I can get along with new people in a very small group or in one-to-one well. But when it comes to socialize with big groups, I have to tell myself repeatedly that there is nothing to be nervous and this will end, very soon! Even so, I often speak in shaking voice in front of the crowd. (What emphasize this behavior, perhaps are Saturn in the 11 house and the cusp in Scorpio. I’m also an Eastern Hemisphere native.)
I have been single and spending times at home or in libraries for almost 30 years. It’s good for working but I can’t help thinking that there must be something more in life. So recently I set a goal to go out to explore new places, try new restaurants etc.every week but also alone…
But for better or for worse, I don’t think I can change the way I have been soon…
Actually, I can’t picture myself having a boyfriend and going for a date outside every week. However, It still freaked me out when my crush commented surprisingly after knowing that I go out and travel mostly by myself. It seems many men don’t get used to the idea that some women love spending times at home as well as seeing women do activity e.g. having lunch alone.
By: apeloph on November 2, 2013
at 1:53 am
No, we introverts can’t change and the book gives plenty of reasons to embrace it. I know I need complete solitude when I write and time to think about what I’m writing when I’m not at work on it. Over the years, though, I’ve gotten much more comfortable in social situations. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on November 2, 2013
at 3:36 am
I proudly consider myself an introvert, although I think I’m borderline ambivert (Libra rising) these days. As a child I was very shy. I’ve become more social since I’m older, but I still prefer one-on-one versus large groups. I’m also an INFJ.
My 12th house contains Pluto at 22°, Venus at 22° and Uranus at 27° in Virgo. I also have a 2nd house Scorpio stellium (sun, moon, mercury, Neptune).
Writing is my ideal career, but I am not yet able to support myself financially as a writer. Sculpting is another passion for me, and I’m also a bookworm. I would love to work from home, alone, 100% of the time. Unfortunately I work for a global financial corporation, which is designed for the extrovert with team-building etc. It’s horrific for the introverted personality. I hate it.
My home is my nest, my sanctuary. The only people I invite into my home are close family members. My best friend has only been to my home once, yet I’ve been to her home many times!
I also do not have a Facebook page – I’m far too private to share such personal information.
By: Pennie on November 3, 2013
at 7:00 pm
I have PLUTO transiting my 12th house Capricorn stellum of 0 mars, 11 saturn,16 mercury, 23 sun 24 asc.. Ouch. My 0 leo moon in the 7th house pulls me out a bit. I am an American ExPat stuck in the bush in Canada as the result of tragic marriage/divorce/custody settlement. I have lost most of my roles, my career credentials (RN/Midwife), even my children. I feel like a hostage at times to my BPD ex. Although I have learned to know myself better through this transit, and learned I am victim to so much illusory neptune stuff………my progressed Sun in Pisces……..I am starting over at 53 and do not see a clear path. For the first time in life I do not have a burning desire, a beacon of direction other than Inner. Yet I must rejoin the world somehow?
By: swimming through the 12th on November 24, 2013
at 9:41 am
At devastating times like those you are going through, under such vast, life-altering transits, that’s a time to pause, grieve as need be, and patiently await the transition your soul is making. Such major outer planet transits affect us, often, through huge changes in the world, and so those like us with lots of background and skills to offer may wind up using them in a new and much-needed way, to ease the pain of the Collective in its more difficult hours.
Hmm. I wonder if I could put that up on a billboard somewhere. I certainly need to read and reread it myself. One of my astrological mentors used to say that Capricorns were the comeback kings and could be counted on to climb that mountain one more time. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on November 24, 2013
at 10:16 am
Thanks I will post it on the wall for now. I am drawn to two options, homeopathy and family constellation work, both pulling from my intuitive/clinical background strengths. My north node has progressed to 12th house too I see? Are thes etwo paths too airy fairy or do I ahve a choice? Trying to step into the virgo n. node path?
By: swimming through the 12th on November 24, 2013
at 12:29 pm
It sounds like you are drawn to service, a time-honored path, but there are so many ways to go to find your own unique path, so don’t limit yourself. Often, too, as we learn more healing approaches, we wind up combining them into our work. Donna
n 11/24/2013 12:29 PM, Sky Writer wrote: > New comment on your post “12th House People as Introverts: the Power of Solitude” > Author : swimming through the 12th (IP: 207.216.201.75 , d207-216-201-75.bchsia.telus.net) > E-mail : cmagier@live.com > URL : > Whois : http://whois.arin.net/rest/ip/207.216.201.75
By: Donna Cunningham on November 24, 2013
at 2:15 pm
hey “Swimming through… Are you my twin soul? I am stunned at our similiaritys. This topic in Skywriter is my most sacred and I wish somehow we could sit in a room together and compare notes. I guess what we are doing here is as close as I can get. I invite dialogue. Feel free to write me directly. As always…Thank you Donna!
By: Paulette on November 25, 2013
at 2:35 pm
So glad this material is helping, Paulette. I stopped at 15 articles, though I still have a few others up my sleeve, but I thought my readers who aren’t so lucky as to have a 12th house planet or two might get jealous. 😉
By: Donna Cunningham on November 25, 2013
at 2:58 pm
Hello Swimming Through the 12th House 🙂
I don’t mean to butt in – I just read your comment about being interested in homeopathy and family constellation work. Obviously this is just my very subjective view and it might not be like this for you at all, but I found that when I was a practicing homeopath (and even now since people know that I used to practice) it was a lot harder to keep boundaries if when my clients were coming to me about (apparently) physical health things – especially after I’d given them a remedy if they have a healing reaction, which a lot of people, no matter how much you ‘educate’ them about symptoms being signals and a good thing etc, really dislike and nearly always need to contact you for. It might just be the ‘crisis management’ factor in my chart though, and obviously people going through emotional crisis often need a lot of contact too. Plus there are other ways to practice homeopathy (which I am exploring – such as self cultivation focus etc) but with all the natural medicine being targeted by a lot of government agencies these days, I would personally think that there’s less difficulty in practicing family constellation work although I obviously don’t have that viewpoint, not having done it.
I just thought that might help. And I still totally love homeopathy and it might not just be the 12th house aspect that made it so hard for me (I have sun conjct pluto and uranus so that didn’t help) so it might be radically different for you – it’s just as a 12th houser I LOVE that I no longer have a phone and that my apartment buzzer doesn’t work!!!
By: Genevieve on February 14, 2015
at 12:58 am
p.s. I wasn’t very clear in the context about the homeopathic healing reactions…a for instance – if someone has a lot of pathology, I would feel that I had to be ‘on call’ sometimes 24 hours a day at some points – but that is just how it was for me…
By: Genevieve on February 14, 2015
at 1:04 am
I have been rereading all the posts here for what seems like the fourth time…I send you all a big 12th house hug…to share what is so deep and often secret inside here…WHEW!!!
By: Paulette on November 25, 2013
at 3:16 pm
Thank you Paulette! 😀 A hug right back at you! – I’ve just got here so I’ve not read much yet but isn’t astrology amazing that there are so many similarities etc! ❤ _/\_
By: Genevieve on February 14, 2015
at 1:06 am
I’m so glad to have found you all. (I tried to find your story/chart by Reading back through the forum, Paulette, unsuccessfully.) Searching for answers to the NEVERENDING HOSTAGE part, it seems I’m a bit 12th house heavy on paper as well as in real life. So I was a monk in many lives, I get it, the old familiar soltitude. One big vision quest. Is this all? More and more of it with Pluto at only 11 deg? Most of my astrologer friends shake their heads and tell me to get out my feathers and do the medicine woman walk. It sounds so corny having grown up on carlos castenada, but this is who I’ve always been ! North node astrologers tell me the spiritual life is my default with south node in pisces and to not go that direction, but I feel stuck here . When I try to shift the isolation, nothing shifts. my 0 leo moon and my venus 14 sagg. jupiter 24 sagg. just want to go to the party!
AND MUMZIFER THIS is sooo ON : I am a serious foot rehab patient , had complete post. tib tendon reconstruction. grateful for surgical success .
By: swimming through the 12th on November 25, 2013
at 10:04 pm
Wish your feet are healthy now.
By: Ai on July 30, 2015
at 8:44 pm
quoting Donna “Such major outer planet transits affect us, often, through huge changes in the world, and so those like us with lots of background and skills to offer may wind up using them in a new and much-needed way, to ease the pain of the Collective in its more difficult hours.”
certainly my microcosm reflects the macrocosm. my crisis happened shortly after Fukushima, and no end in sight.
By: swimming through the 12th on November 25, 2013
at 10:13 pm
I consider myself an introvert even with just two planets in the 12th….though one is Neptune. It has been difficult to come to terms with. But with a recent visit to an astrologer for my first natal chart reading and then my investigations into astrology…maybe some thing to do with having six planets in the 9th house ….I just enjoy reading up on esoteric stuff. It’s helped me realise it’s OK being me, this time around being reclusive. Though living in a Western culture the gung ho go out and get it mentality of my peers is a tad wearing. I love your writing Donna ☆☆☆☆ :-).
By: mumanisnowhere on January 10, 2014
at 9:03 am
I have mars in my 12th house, i also have sun conjunct Neptune at exactly 0 degree in the 12th. I am overly a 12th person with this conjunction placed there. I don’t think i need to interact with others, i have my own world in my head. I hear music as if someone was wistling to me, though i cannot write music nor can i play any instrument. I can write a script and picture a whole movie in my head with coherence. When i am inspired by love, i can write better love poems than Victor Hugo. Since i was a child, my imagination was always vivid, i am a great song writer and poet, however, i am as shy person. I am very shy and timid. It is sad that the world won’t enjoy my talent.
By: ten on August 28, 2014
at 7:32 pm
Hi, Ten, as a fellow 12th house person, I can understand the difficulty in being out in the world, though I have managed over the years to be more at peace in sharing my gifts. On this site, you’ll find a series of more than 15 articles on the 12th house, and in the comment sections, you’ll find many of us who share your concerns. I’d highly recommend you read the book suggested here on the power of introversion. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on August 29, 2014
at 5:36 am
I have Merc in Sag and Moon and Mars in Cap, all in the 12th. I am definitely an introvert (Myers-Briggs test results say I am either INFP or INTP-one counselor thought I was INFP but had tested INTP b/c of my interest in technology and science). In school I never answered unless specifically called on, even though an A student. It used to annoy me when 3 (or more) extroverts would noisily raise their hands and all give the same answer over again (why waste time repeating something, haha-but I don’t have a judgmental bone in my body! lol). Fortunately I’ve learned to laugh at myself and quietly at the attention seekers. I do like teaching but feel in control and am the “expert”, so it’s not scary; can’t make a fool of myself. Thanks to all for all the resources referenced.
By: Bob Miller on September 15, 2014
at 12:21 pm
On being tested, I sat exactly on the border between INFJ and INFP. I saw some stats ages ago that gave the percentage of the population that fit into each of the Jungian categories. Both INFP ands INFJ were only 1% of the population each. No wonder we feel so much out of the mainstream. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on September 15, 2014
at 2:30 pm
I’m an INFP and have Sun, Mercury and Venus in Cancer in 12th… very private and yes, definitely feel out of step with mainstream….
By: mykka on September 15, 2014
at 2:45 pm
I remember reading that stat also. With the expected for each of the 16 types being a little more than 6%, I believe that stat, as I also remember I’s only make up 1/4th. I agree about feeling out of the mainstream, even out of it from my gender as F’s among men are even less than among women.
By: Bob Miller on September 15, 2014
at 2:54 pm
Hello Donna,
Thank you for the myriad of really wonderful information that you share!
I have a stellium in my 12th house (virgo) of Jupiter, Pluto, Sun and Uranus in that order. Actually my jupiter hovers into the 11th depending on Placidus or Koch, right now it’s progressed in my 12th so it very much feels like it’s all 4 in the 12th and I think it always has been but I’m not sure. I also have my moon in Leo in the 11th house so I can be definitely be very sociable at times and apart from my venus being in my first house with a libra ascendant, venus is also my final dispositor so maybe that adds to the social factor but I am strongly introvert, especially as I’ve aged – for the whole of saturn in scorpio I have been pretty much in secluded retreat doing various healing work, energy filtering and all sorts of other processes – personal, ancestral and collective. I definitely don’t feel lonely when I am alone nowadays (although my leo moon hurt from it when i was younger) and I am comfortable with my deviation from the social norms. My mercury is in my first house and I suspect that might add a lot to the introversion. Apart from the 12th house dominance, my whole chart is pretty much a yod, so with both of those my focus has been on the spiritual path and psychology, self awareness etc especially since I learned more about the 12th house. Going to (a good) astrologer for the first time was pretty much a turn around in my life (although I’ve had a few as you might anticipate with sun conjunct pluto) and ever since then I’ve been studying it although not officially – not yet anyway.
Thank you for all you do ❤ _/\_
By: Genevieve on February 13, 2015
at 11:55 pm
I also think I’ve become more introverted since my sun and asc progressed from libra into scorpio…
By: Genevieve on February 14, 2015
at 1:17 am
That’s very natural with a progression between two such different signs. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on February 14, 2015
at 1:48 am
Hi, Genevieve. With such a complex stellium, you’ll spend much of your lifetime learning how to love and master the 12th house pursuits. I’m a Sun-Jupiter conjunction in the 12th myself, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I need silence and solitude to write and do my work, but with a stellium in Gemini in the 11th, I also love my friends.
I much admire the skills and abilities, and the desire to contribute that have made the Pluto-Uranus generation so invaluable. If you haven’t seen it, my Stellium Handbook is full information on how to use a stellium well. See the tab on the front page of Skywriter for more information. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on February 14, 2015
at 1:47 am
I have a 12th house Neptune conjunct ascendant in Libra, trine Moon/Uranus in Gemini in the 9th, sextile Saturn/Pluto conjunct in Leo in the 10th, square Sun/Mars conjunct in Capricorn in the 3rd (or 4th to some), square Mercury in Capricorn.
I’m a scholar and professor but am drawn powerfully to spiritual quiet at home (even married but we each have our own home office). I usually don’t go out at night, don’t stay at parties–my socializing tends to be during daytime at cafes and in my vigorous walks. I exercise alone happily.
I do enjoy contributing to my students’ “spirit” by picking up and giving back to them their talents–sometimes it’s amazing to see the results. One student just wrote to me that a blog I had shown her in response to hearing about her interests had changed her life. Three years later she purchased a one-way ticket to France and Morocco, to work in the latter at the bloggers store!
These types of experiences occur frequently and yet I’m a bit of a formalist in my approach to academic materials because I can see where students need repetition for confidence. I spent many years teaching and coaching gymnastics. I write, too, and expect to do more. I must hear spiritual music every day (Indian, Tibetan, Persian, Islamic, Christian chants), and I need languages–I know some, but it doesn’t matter if I understand a language to listen to it–at all.
This is an elder care period for me, but otherwise I usually get my research, teaching, meditating, exercising in to my day. Reading about the 12th house in your recent email (today), I felt that things just fell into place, so closely did I identify with the characteristics–the strong pull. I can’t wait to read the other blogs. Last thing: sometimes I feel rather apart from others but in the past 10 years I’ve come to embrace it more.
By: Idiaza on June 12, 2015
at 9:19 pm
Thanks for sharing your story. I can relate to so much of it. If I don’t get regular long stretches of silence and solitude, I get thrown off center and can’t do my work like writing. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on June 13, 2015
at 3:23 am
sun and venus in pisces with venus conjunct Asc. At 14 wanted to be a nun and work in Africa, but my love of sewing and creating my own clothes bit me big time. Spen t 3 years studying at college then left and joined the uk Police Force for 4 years. A complex life full of giving above and beyond the call of duty love and friendship but now learnign to be still and trust all will be well and put my energies into my own life and surroundings which seem to have been on hold for a very long time. born in 1946
By: Patricia Nield on June 13, 2015
at 3:55 am
Lovely sharing, Patricia. It’s funny to me, as I also had recurring yearnings to be a nun in my youth. But I wasn’t Catholic! I think it is some kind of archetypal quality in a 12th house person (And this is probably only the 2nd time I’ve used the word archetype on this blog!) Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on June 13, 2015
at 4:36 am
Hi, Donna, thank you for the blog. I have Jupiter, Juno, Fortune in 12th house Cancer. Also Mars at 14′ Leo, which conjunct Asc (16′ Leo). I struggle with Mars wanting to come out and hide at the same time. Mars also square Neptune. Can you give me some suggestions? Thank you very much.
By: Ai on July 30, 2015
at 7:12 pm
Hi, Ai, I also have Jupiter in Cancer in the 12th, and that’s supposed to be a very uplifting and wise sign AND house for Jupiter, so know that as the years go by, you’ll learn and grow a great deal by spiritual studies and unselfish service. If you use the search engine on the top right hand side of the front page of this blog, you’ll find a series of close to 20 articles about the twelfth.
You would also get so much from Tracy Mark’s kind and loving book about the 12th house, which you can find at Amazon.com. She analyzes each possible planet in the 12th in detail.
As for Mars in Leo, it’s a very strong position with endless energy and leadership capacity. My Mentor, Rod Chase, did a study of the charts of American presidents, and found more with that sign than any other. The main thing to watch out for is pride and an excess of ego. If used in service, it can make you a strong advocate for those with disabilities or other crippling problems. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on July 30, 2015
at 7:53 pm
Your understanding brought tears to my eyes. THANK YOU 😊
By: Ai on July 30, 2015
at 8:51 pm
I’m glad it helped, Ai. Donna, a fellow introvert.
By: Donna Cunningham on July 31, 2015
at 1:11 am
Hi Donna. Thank you for recommending Tracy’s book in connection to 12th house placements. I am purchasing it immediately. My 64th birthday is the 31st of this coming month and I am as seemingly freed from rootedness to this earth in any binding way as a piece of fluff attached to a seed about to be torn from its plant and borne through — SOME wind!!
Which wind and in what direction is in the air but I do know I will be leaving THIS place around Nov. 10th — and heading where for which reason? To be discovered!!
My North Node, Venus, Sun and Mercury are conjunct in the 12th in Virgo. Saturn rests in the 12th one degree from my Ascendant. One thing I can say about my life is that it has NOT been a dull one – and seems to be full of mysteries that I no longer really NEED explained in this lifetime.
Service to humanity – with increasing compassion – while I try to meet my very basic earthly needs – is my goal – so off I go to order Tracy’s book! And THANK YOU, Donna!!
By: alchemynow on July 31, 2015
at 6:42 am
I think you’ll be glad you got–it might well be a traveler’s guide on your new life path. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on July 31, 2015
at 7:43 am
Oh, now that I reread your comment, it becomes clear that you have a stellium in the 12th, so you do have lots of different potentials. In that case, let me recommend my own book on stelliums, The Stellium Handbook. (moonmavenpublications.com) Maybe the new phase is to explore those roads not taken that you put aside due to past responsibilities. Bon voyage! Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on July 31, 2015
at 7:48 am
Sounds great! I will have my friend order it for me as I don’t order things online – can’t tell if that is hardcopy or ebook – but will find out! If he orders an ebook I will need to see it on my computer – obviously I am IN THE MUD on these kinds of things!
By: alchemynow on July 31, 2015
at 7:54 am
All my books are ebooks, but you’ll find–with the stellium book–it has some advantages. For one, there are working links to many related articles on my blog that expand on what I’m saying. And you’ll be able to cut and paste interpretations that will make it possible to create your own stellium worksheet with the specific planets, signs, and houses yours has.
Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on July 31, 2015
at 9:16 am
So if someone in California orders this for me I would be able to read the book over here in North Dakota on my computer? WOW you have done SO MUCH WORK! Beautiful!
By: alchemynow on July 31, 2015
at 10:45 am
That’s ’cause I’ve got a stellium myself (four Gemini planets in the 11th) and have spent the past 73 years trying to master it. Life never gets dull!
See, here’s how the ebook will work. The PDF files for the book come attached to an email (two PDF files because it’s a very long book, and that makes navigating it easier). It could come either to your friend–or directly to you is fine also. Then, you need a file folder on your hard drive to save it to.
Maybe you already know how to work with PDF files, but if not, you do need some version of an Adobe Acrobat reader for PDF files–it’s a free program. If you don’t have that, perhaps your friend could coach you through downloading and saving it. Then you click on the file and voila! It opens and you can read it. When you’ve read all you can in one sitting, you just click the file off–like closing the cover of a book–and you can open it again any time you want. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on July 31, 2015
at 12:15 pm
Fantastic!!!! Very helpful – well get this figured out and thanks again!!! WOW sounds like you were born ON A MISSION and have had little option but to stick with it! Looking forward to reading this book – Linda
By: alchemynow on August 2, 2015
at 4:53 pm
I have a stellium there (sun, mercury, venus, jupiter) and life’s been pretty hard. I’m a very introvert i only talk fluently and loud when at least one friend is around me. I thought i could fix being an introvert but now I’m beginning to like this better. Sometimes i think all my efforts Will pay off or sth..
By: . on January 15, 2016
at 11:02 am
Glad the post gave you a new perspective. As a 12th house person, I’m quite an introvert, but with a Gemini stellium and Leo planets in the first, over the years I’ve gotten more comfortable, even giving lectures to big crowds. And when I’m in a major introverted phase, I can still fake it around others. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on January 15, 2016
at 11:32 am
Sun, Venus and Uranus in the 12th all conjunct Cancer rising – an introverts introvert. From observation, one of the things that should be kept in mind is that introverts generally have what is referred to an an “inner circle”. If you spy an introvert in the company of one or more of their inner circle they may not appear introverted at all. However, if and when someone from outside that circle joins the gathering the introverts will become quite and often physically withdraw themselves.
By: Sandra Melchior on February 27, 2016
at 8:35 pm
Such a good point, Sandra. I am a 12th house introvert as well, and your observations are spot on. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on February 27, 2016
at 9:33 pm
I am and always have been very interested in astrology and astronomy. Maybe my interest in this was to understand myself. I always felt different as I’ve got older it’s all very clear now.
I have a stellium 6 planets in Virgo including Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Saturn and Pluto. I have been doing some research recently. This only lasted for 24 hours the date I was born. Whereas my son who also has a stellium but 6 planets in Capricorn lasted 17 days. I have also been doing charts for people for the past 10 years. I have never come across another person with a stellium. I resonate with the 12th house points that you’ve made. I practise yoga and meditate daily. I need lots of solitude and enjoy traveling alone. I enjoy the company of people close to me. I would say I’m more work focused and have many colleagues. It’s my libra ascendant that saves me!
By: Shen on March 8, 2016
at 3:36 pm
I don’t think you’ve seen my ebook on stelliums, Shen, but it would shed a lot of light on what’s going on with you and your son. Stelliums do run in families.
Your son is born in a special generation born with a rare conjunction of Uranus, Saturn, and Neptune that last occurred 620 years ago. Every child who was born on the planet in l988-89 had it, but some born under the sign Capricorn had as many as 6 planets in Capricorn. 138 million in 1989 alone. The challenges they face as a generation are immense.
There’s a chapter about them in the book. It is called The Stellium Handbook and is available at MooonMavenPublications.com Donna Cunningham
By: Donna Cunningham on March 9, 2016
at 6:55 am
Thank you Donna I will look your book up!
Shen
By: Shen on March 9, 2016
at 8:00 am
I forgot to mention my son was born February 9th 1990. He is an Aquarius with Libra rising same ascendent as myself and his father is a Libra! From my experiences with people and people I know we often are drawn to people who are more compatible with the ascendent than the actual sun sign. Unfortunately if the ascendent is not compatible with the sun sign there are challenges.
By: Shen on March 9, 2016
at 8:06 am
HI, I just stumbled upon this and thought I would share that… I am a major 12th house. My sun, moon, rising, venus, and mercury are all in 12 house- in the sign of Virgo. I would say that I am entirely introverted. Everything about me revolves around an internal and feeling reality. I find I enjoy socializing, but often lack even the slightest know how of how to do so, and enjoy it. This has been becoming more difficult as I get older.
When I am feeling good about myself it can be much easier, but I have a tendency to feel incapable of relating to others.. and also hold myself to really deep and philosophical standards. It’s often noted to me that I am mysterious, subtle and really hard to read. From my perspective I find that reality should meet me…. and does, but that’s in an internal way that definitely doesn’t often sync with ‘other’
Pretty much in general, if I’m doing well… I’m pretty good at being a chameleon and meeting people where they are… but most of the time
I’m feeling really deeply, everything and worry I am crazy !!!
By: arwquantum on May 14, 2016
at 6:35 pm
Ah, me. You truly are a 12th house type through and through. And you are NOT crazy! The things you describe, you’ll find a great many fellow 12th house people to identify with if you read the comment sections for the many (15) articles about the 12th house on this blog. (Use the search engine at the top right hand corner of the front page.)
Also, you may not be aware of this but the concentration of planets you have in the 12th house is called a stellium. You’ll also find other articles about stelliums on this blog. I also have written an “owner’s manual” for people with stelliums, with many tools for self-understanding called The Stellium Handbook, available at MoonMavenublications. Believe in yourself–we 12th house types are special. Donna Cunningham
PS. I much identify with what you said about being a chameleon.
By: Donna Cunningham on May 15, 2016
at 5:00 am
I do find this all a bit confusing but grateful for these articles! I’m an ambivert 100%, I used to refer to myself as an extroverted introvert, in that, I’m an entertainer so comfortable performing but also can be quite shy in groups of people. My 12th house is ruled by Taurus, but my sun, Mercury, and Jupiter all fall in my 12th house under Gemini. My ascending sign is right on the cusp in my first house, also in Gemini, my birthdate being June 11, 1977 (double Gemini). Thanks for so much knowledge and insight you provide!
By: myohmay on September 7, 2016
at 7:06 am
Hello, I am a Sun/Saturn/Neptune in 12th house ambivert…I have Venus in Libra in the 11th and a Sun/Uranus square which perhaps make me enjoy a little excitement! Sun/Neptune Libra, Saturn 0 degrees Scorpio and Scorp asc 4 degrees. Currently having a weekend of solitude…..I have been craving it more as I’m getting older.
By: AK on January 15, 2017
at 12:45 am
For some reason this page came up today so I will contribute…I had just cleared my browsing cache and never been here before! Anyhow I have a 12 h stellium in Sag, Saturn 6-sun at 11, Mercury at 22-moon at 25 and aAsc at 27. It was an awful year for health in 2016 starting early 2015 with daily vertigo. After audiology tests and BPPV correction found out I am pre Menerieres and had 2 root canals. All of the trouble was focused mostly in my head and neck, diagnosed with narrow angle glaucoma and acephalic migraine. Transiting Saturn has done its number..and with the approach to my Moon I’ve been asked to sign over guardianship rights from my Morhers lawyer to my sister. Seems my karma with her is complete but still painful as I was taught from a young age to care for her.
By: RS on March 2, 2017
at 9:10 am