The Sun
in the Sixth House
Like the Second, the Sixth House was characterized by classical astrologers as a weak and unhappy place. They considered it the low-rent district of the horoscope. It is still thought of as one of the most mundane sectors of the chart, and it is typically relegated to matters such as servants, employees, routine tasks, and health.
Health is often given the primary emphasis. While generally agreeing that the placement of the Sun in this sector could produce delicate health and questionable vitality, modern texts hold out the hope that, with positive aspects, attention to diet, and clean living, good health is a possibility. In the traditional reading of the house, however, the Sixth is considered only as the source of disease, the place where anything that can go wrong with the physical body will. Even though it is typical for people with the Sun in the Sixth to pay close attention to their health, according to this interpretation, apparently the best they can hope for is “not so bad.”
I have to question this emphasis on ill-health where the Sixth House is concerned. Looking over the examples I’ve gathered of people with the Sun in this house, I find only a few for whom ill-health was a major issue. I think that in order to understand the Sixth House, we need to focus less on health and more on service.
Service
Service is a subject that most people in the modern era don’t like to think about. We treasure our supposed independence, our presumed autonomy, and we only occasionally glance upward through the layers of authority and circumstance that dictate the physical terms under which our lives are lived. For most people, these layers are multitudinous, stretching from your boss at work all the way up to the supernatural authority figure of your choice. Even for the few at the top levels, service is still an issue. A CEO who doesn’t serve the needs of his or her company and stockholders will soon be deploying a golden parachute. A political leader who fails to serve the needs of his or her constituents is likely to get replaced by someone who promises to do better.
For people with the Sun in the Sixth House, this emphasis on service can present a problem. The Sun represents the ego, that part of us that pushes outward into the world. Service, on the other hand, typically requires us to step back and subordinate our ego to that of another. How do you express your individuality, your essential self, when the things we do best all come under the heading of “service”?
There are ways of doing this. A good example is an Argentine priest named Jorge Mario Bergoglio who, through a life devoted to servicing his church and his parishioners, became Pope Francis. As pope, Francis has used his position to emphasize the need for humility and service within the Catholic Church. There are many ways in which people with the Sun in the Sixth can succeed through service. George Patton served in the US Army, Dick Cheney served as vice president of the United States, Enrico Fermi served the advancement of science.
Great accomplishments are by no means out of reach for people with this placement of the Sun. They just have to be able to balance their egos with the requirement of service. Achieving this balance is easier for some people than for others. A lot depends on the Sun sign and on other factors in the horoscope. However, success for people with the Sun in the Sixth is often predicated on their ability to willingly and gracefully be of service to others and to see that service as a proud expression of their ego. They have to be proud of what they do but at the same time remain humble.
Humility
For many of us, humility (like service) is a dirty word. We live in a society that celebrates winners, that encourages swagger and braggadocio. And yet, humility is a necessary part of life, and no one gets out of this world without experiencing it in one form or another. This is particularly true of people with the Sun in the Sixth House. The key is to experience humility in a positive way.
Mohammed Ali was famous for his flamboyant ego, but he based his boasts on a lot of sweaty, grueling, humble hours in the gym. George Patton was also known for his egotism, but even as a general, he had to humbly submit to the orders of his superiors. Again, it is a matter of balance. People with the Sun in the Sixth have to know when humility is necessary and when it is not. Flexing muscles and showing off is not out of the question with this placement as long as the person has served his or her time and has done his or her due diligence in the house of humility.
This is where health often enters the Sixth House picture, because nothing is more certain to humble a proud ego than a serious health crisis. We may be able to sidestep humility in our working life or our love life, but once we are faced with the inherent fragility of the human body, there is no escaping our lowly position in the natural order. We will be humbled, and the more we try to hold on to our dignity, our vanity, and our pride, the more bothersome that humbling will be.
For people with the Sun in the Sixth House, health problems often serve the essential function of reminding them of their humility. Our time on this earth is short and we are all subject to the insults of illness, injury, and aging. No matter how far we rise in life, our claims of greatness ring hollow against the expanse of the universe. People with this placement of the Sun accept this and use it to balance their more prideful moments.
Your Mission
I think that one reason the Sun in the Sixth House was labeled as a somewhat debilitated placement in astrological tradition is because the mission it describes is so difficult. If you have the Sun in the Sixth, you have to face issues like service and humility that most people prefer to ignore. You have to accept and live with the limitations of both your abilities and of your physical body. You are aware to a degree that would terrorize many people with other placements of the Sun of the temporary nature of human existence and the folly of our presumptions of independence and liberty.
All this makes it easy for some people with this placement to try to skip the mission of the Sun in the Sixth. It’s easier to forget about human limitations, to close your eyes to the necessity of service and humility, and to just move forward in life as if these realities do not exist. This ploy rarely works out well. Life has a way of reminding us of our limitations, of bringing servitude to the arrogant and humility to the proud. People with this placement who refuse to accept these necessities often invite great difficulty into their lives.
On the other hand, for those who accept the mission of the Sun in the Sixth, being humble can prove quite advantageous. When you’re humble, you see the value of simple things. You recognize the quiet power of routine and you see the necessity of establishing good habits with regard to diet and health. You recognize that talent, intelligence, and skill mean little unless you are willing to do the work required to develop them. When you are humble, you don’t expect the world to be on your side. You are not surprised when life gets hard. You understand that success, like failure, is typically a temporary condition.
What you have to be wary of with this placement of the Sun is passivity. Accepting your limitations does not mean that you have to forgo ambition, and being humble should not preclude self-esteem. More importantly, being in a position of service to other people or to large institutions does not exempt you from the responsibility of making decisions or from the ethical implications of your actions. You can’t hide behind humility. You have an obligation to make sure that the aims of the people and entities you serve align with your personal sense of morality.
The real mission of the Sun in the Sixth House is actually very simple. It is to find honor in service and strength in humility. It’s not always easy to achieve this state of mind. It is a delicate balancing act that the world often seems intent on disrupting. It’s no mystery why so many people with this placement try to escape its mission. But for those of you who accept it, this supposedly ineffectual placement of the Sun can become a source of great power and outstanding insight.