Moon, Venus, Mars in the 2nd house: crazy aunts and distant fathers.

It is undeniable that most astrologers primarily identify 2nd house placements as being vehicles for either financial failure or success. I think that's kind of lazy. Yes, the 2nd house is about material possession, finances, real estate, cooking and the like, but it is far more than that. To not ask why or how is to be completely unintuitive.

The 2nd house symbolizes younger childhood and familial history. It can indicate how a particular planet's function was inherited from parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents. The planets which are placed in the 2nd house are immediately turned inward. They develop stubbornly and are a source of great personal rumination or repression. If they are difficultly aspected, especially with an outer planet like Uranus or Pluto, the inner turmoil that occurs as a result can be much harder to heal than a planet in a more fluid house.

A positively aspected Moon/Venus in the 2nd house can imply a supportive relationship with a network of older female family members beyond the mother. Influential aunts and female family friends are common. Usually these women are closely connected to domestic life. They may be fixated upon the improvement of their homes, collect art (or be artists/artisans themselves,) dress well (or at least with consideration,) and be generous with (of course) money and food- almost to the point of aggression. ("Let me pay for the Goddamn tickets!" "Eat more, you look close to death.") These women can tell fantastic stories about their past experiences, and often live close to or in the same residence as the 2nd house Moon. In early life, it is likely that they will provide a cushion of financial support for their family- but often they have not necessarily earned this money themselves (gaining through marriage or inheritance.) In later life, a 2nd house Moon or Venus may receive an inheritance as well after an older female family member's death.

Conversely, a negatively aspected 2nd house Moon/Venus, or a 2nd house Moon/Venus in an ominous sign (Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, Scorpio,) can create a hereditary pattern of unsupportive, unavailable or erratic female family members. An afflicted Pisces Moon in the 2nd house may have had their grandmother, mother and aunt(s) all suffer from the same genetically inherent illness/disorder. Other afflicted 2nd house Moons/Venuses may have female family members who fluctuate violently between excess and asceticism; women with eating disorders, shopping addictions, generosity that impoverishes them, houses stuffed with hoarded trash, and heartbreak/violences/abandonments that they are never able to fully recover from. These women appear to be enslaved to their own emotions and desires. They emulate the astrological age of the 2nd house; the characteristics of a child between 7-14 years old as opposed to caregivers. As a child, the afflicted 2nd house Moon/Venus may look up to these women, but disillusionment is probable with age.

A well-aspected Mars in the 2nd house can, in the best case scenario, indicate a wealthy father figure who was the primary provider in childhood. He was often sociable and attracted to beautiful women and art. He had some interest in history, politics and war, and may have enjoyed debating these topics with his children or male friends/relatives. A 2nd house Mars' father will rarely change his mind, and was probably quite opinionated. If he has difficulty connecting with his children, he will attempt to assist them career-wise, sometimes even to the extent of nepotism. Either way, there tends to be a family business, craft or interest encouraged by both the mother and father in different ways. The father will have had high standards for his children, or will elicit in them a desire for his approval. Although male family members may be present, they tend to be less dominant than the father. Still, there is often a strong cultural identity passed down through the paternal side of the family or in a 2nd house Mars' maternal grandfather. Also passed down is the child's attitude towards money- which tends to lean towards frugality when placed in a harmonious sign.

Unfortunately, however, Mars in the 2nd house usually does not indicate a supportive father, especially when afflicted. It is more common for the father to be at least slightly neglectful, irresponsible, removed, or even abusive. If Mars falls in Cancer, Libra or Taurus this may be enhanced. Just as with the aunts and grandmothers of the Moon/Venus in the 2nd house, an afflicted Mars in the 2nd father will be ruled heavily by his compulsions and desires, often to the point of egotism.

If he would like to possess anything- he must have it, no matter who it may belong to or who he may hurt in pursuit of it. He could buy an expensive car at the brink of financial ruin, catapulting his family into poverty, or spend so much time working abroad that he is in a separate country during the birth of his third child. Mars in the 2nd fathers are frequently adulterous, as well, and not all that subtle about it. Abusive Mars in the 2nd fathers will rationalize abuse by claiming it is a kind of discipline, no matter how little the abuse resembles that. In actuality, he abuses to gain a sense of control- something which he similarly gains through the spending or hoarding of money. Perhaps the most painful aspect of having a Mars in the 2nd placement, is that one's father will be too prideful, argumentative or stubborn to ever apologize or even acknowledge his absence/abuse. A person with an afflicted Mars in the 2nd may think that, as a result of their father's distance, they must accumulate and never lose both material possessions and people. Of course, this merely repeats the original pre-occupation with acquiring things that caused them pain as a child.

It is this sense of historical repetition which can can "trap" a planet in the 2nd house. An afflicted Venus square Uranus in the 2nd house, for example, may create someone who feels trapped by the surprising nature of their own romantic life- whether it be the erratic way they love or the erratic love of others. This person may default to the opinion that "everything is out of my control" and feel as if they have little autonomy over their emotions. They may even practice emotional complacency out of a feeling of powerlessness.

The 2nd house is ruled by Taurus, which opposes the 8th house of Scorpio. Perhaps the most significant reason that Taurus is in opposition to Scorpio is because of a Taurean aversion to transformation. In the 8th house a planet is thrown to great heights of intensity, examined and then regenerated. In the 2nd, it is more likely to stew within itself for years- causing less consistent upheaval than it would in the 8th, but creating a wound that is never fully bandaged. The 2nd house usually has an enduringly vivid memory of its past (good or bad,) which can lead to a fear of nostalgia in general that cripples the process of healing.

What an afflicted 2nd house planet must learn is that suppression and possession will not prevent loss. To deny themselves self-knowledge and memory out of fear is to deny them who they are.