The 4th House in Astrology: Meaning and Planets
The 4th house is home and roots: where you live, your family and ancestry, your private life and the emotional base you return to. Its starting point is the lowest point of the chart, the IC.
| Also called | House of Home and Roots |
|---|---|
| Covers | home, family, ancestry, private life, the end of things |
| Natural sign | Cancer |
| Natural ruler | Moon |
| Type | Angular house |
What the 4th house covers
The cusp of the 4th house is the Imum Coeli (IC), the point directly opposite the Midheaven. It describes what you come from and what you need underneath everything else. Astrologers also read it for the later part of life.
This house is one of the four angles, so planets here are strong and shape the whole chart, even if quietly.
Planets in the 4th house
The Moon here is at home and makes family central. Saturn here describes early responsibilities or a home that felt strict. Jupiter here brings a generous home. Uranus here brings frequent moves.
An empty 4th house
Read the sign on the IC for what home needs to feel like, and the house of its ruler for where you look for that feeling.
A worked example
Cancer on the IC with the Moon in the 7th: a person who finds home through a partner and builds it around that relationship.
Every planet in the 4th house
Each page below gives the meaning of one planet in the 4th house and which sign it has to be in for each rising sign.
Find yours
Find which sign is on your 4th house and which planets sit in it. Houses need your birth time and place. Birth chart calculator
See what is moving through your 4th house
Transits through your 4th house bring its themes forward. A Precision Horoscope shows which planets are crossing your houses today. Get my free personal reading