Good Luck & Divine Message: on the Fifth House Part II
Continuing our understanding of the creative potential of the 5th house's classical meanings
This essay is part II on a series unpacking the ancient significations of the Fifth House in relation to creativity and our artistic practice 🎨. You can read the first part of the series here.
Housekeeping
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Emissaries and Legates
One of the more unique significations of the Fifth House that has been mostly lost in modern times is its connection to ambassadors and diplomats, or those who speak on the behalf of others. The first time I discovered this connection was when reading up on Al-Andarzaghar’s description of the three triplicity lords of the houses. While the first lord of the Fifth represents children and the second pleasures, the third, he tells us, represents “messengers, emissaries,” to which Guido Bonatti adds “giving of presents or gifts for benefit”. Another word commonly used here is “legate,” which describes papal representatives, or members of the Church who traveled to deliver a message of the pope. In Ancient Rome, a legate was a deputy of a governor or general who acted on their behalf.
Etymologically, legate comes from “legare," meaning to “send as a deputy, send with a commission, charge, bequeath”. Demetra traces this connection between emissaries and the fifth house to Medieval Arabis astrologers “because emissaries from other nations…typically came bearing gifts”.
Anecdotally, I have heard the 5th house spoken of in relation to anyone who acts of your or another’s behalf. This can mean a legal emissary, like a child in charge of the will of a sick or dying parent. It can also mean tour guides or diplomats; those that introduce and guide you through a new place.
Can we also see the Fifth as representing our inspirations and the divine messages the world transmits to us like gifts? Being a terrestrial house, the messages of the Fifth come through matter and the body; the flower bushes we pass and the art exhibit we visit in physical space. Pay attention to the planets in and ruling your Fifth House as well as the symbols and images associated with them; does your inspiration or ideas come from similar sources?
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