The 12th House can often simultaneously represent freedom and imprisonment at the same time. Our dreams and subconscious, free, but also contained spaces are represented in the 12th House. Prisons and hospitals are often represented in the 12th House because prisoners and patients are restricted to stay in the building, but they are free from the brutality of the societal norms outside.
When the Sun is in the 12th House, a person’s true identity is hidden within their subconscious. This identity is only completely seen in utmost privacy, and for the native, they can often cherish, yet also dislike the fact that their identity is hidden. However, due to the simultaneous revealing and hiding nature of the 12th House, others can see fragments of the native’s identity and they are left to construct an identity they don’t quite understand. Parts of the person’s identity often slips out of the subconscious without the person knowing.
Due to this, those with the Sun in the 12th House can feel misunderstood by others. They can feel that people construct an image of them that isn’t true. However, there are times where people with this placement struggle to know if the identity they made themselves is even true. Due to this, people with this placement can often feel lost in themselves, wondering what about themselves is exactly true and isn’t true. Due to being misunderstood by others, a lot of this inner thinking is full of doubt, since there isn’t a lot of feedback.
Being misunderstood by others as a result can make these people struggle with being in the spotlight. It’s a paradoxical struggle, for these people want to find themselves and to secretly shine, yet at the same time, they shy away from the spotlight, not knowing what parts of themselves will illuminate. However, part of this struggle comes from how their identity was shoved into the shadows. These people are often never allowed to shine, and due to this, these people may wonder if their identity is too intolerable to show to others.
These individuals may not have been encouraged to have a strong identity growing up, and due to this, their identity is scattered, parts of it showing in certain occasions. While there is a disunity, there is flexibility. In a sense, this flexibility in identity makes these people elusive and enigmatic. These people can often seem fascinating to curious individuals. Due to this, others can try to pry in these people’s lives, making it even more important for these individuals to keep their privacy. The identity of these people are only unified by themselves.
However, this flexibility in identity is often the case due to the person engulfing the identity of others. This is one of the reasons why people with this placement are often in solitude. Seeing the many various identities of others can often be overwhelming for sometimes, these people can struggle to handle their own identity. By being in solitude, these people can recharge and reassess who they are. Even if these people have a strong group of friends and lovers, they will still need alone time, and often, this need for alone time is a good way for these people to determine which friends and lovers are worth staying with.
Many of these individuals will often have a strong imagination, finding that their flexible identity is shown best through subjects that can not be easily found in reality. People with this placement will often get immersed with characters in TV shows, video games, and other mediums where they feel that can have a solid grip on themselves. It’s not that these individuals literally believe they are these fantasy characters, it’s that these individuals find that their identities are best articulated by these characters. Also, the message in some of these mediums can often present a possible path and purpose for these individuals, for these people often struggle to find an identity because they struggle to find a purpose to sustain it. These individuals feel that they are not correctly identified by conscious reality.
With the feeling of being lost, people with this placement are often introspective, and they will often spend a lot of time by themselves. In their solitude, these people will often do activities that reflect their identity. By doing the personal, private activities they enjoy, these people can work to have a truly intimate sense of self that is constructed by themselves and only themselves.
At their best, an individual with their Sun in the 12th House can construct a truly genuine sense of self that defies the current societal understanding of having a strong identity. Even with flexibility and change, these people have the potential to show that you don’t have to maintain a set, foundational identity to have a strong identity. Individuals with this placement show that strong identities are identities that are flexible enough to withstand adversity. An individual with their Sun in the 12th House can have a strong intimate relationship with themselves that can’t be shaken by the circumstances of reality.