Joys

Planetary Joys. The joys are a traditional concept describing the house where each of the seven classical planets rejoices, feeling especially at home and able to express its nature with ease. A planet in its house of joy gains a quiet comfort and strength, similar in spirit to the essential dignities but based on house rather than sign. Each of the seven planets has one house of joy. Mercury joys in the first house, the Moon in the third, Venus in the fifth, Mars in the sixth, the Sun in the ninth, Jupiter in the eleventh, and Saturn in the twelfth. In each case the meaning of the house echoes the nature of the planet. Mercury enjoys the first house of self and expression, Venus the fifth house of pleasure and creativity, and Jupiter the eleventh house of friends and good fortune. The joys also reveal some of the older logic behind the houses themselves, since the meaning of each house grew partly from the planet that rejoices there. Saturn's joy in the twelfth house ties it to solitude and hidden things, while Mars in the sixth connects it to labor and hardship. A planet sitting in its house of joy tends to work with a settled, natural ease.