The ninth house takes us fair and square into the world at large. Many of the significations of the 9th house arise out of the qualities of Sagittarius and Jupiter. The fundamental theme is expansion.
First of all, consider that the 9th house is opposite the 3rd house. Just as the 7th house is the other, being opposite the 1st house of your self, and the 8th house is the other person’s resources, being opposite the 2nd house of your resources, so is the 9th house the global space, expanding on the 3rd house notion of immediate or local space.
The 3rd house local space is the immediate environment or neighborhood, or places that you visit regularly such as your work or place of worship. The 9th house, by expansion, is the far-flung reaches of the world. You get to distance places by traveling, which is a big 9th house signification. Travel typically takes you to places you have never seen before, and gives you a glimpse of strange cultures, customs, food, languages. On the other hand, your annual pilgrimage to your summer home is not a 9th house signification because it is familiar ground, even if it is far.
Travel broadens the mind. And the expansion of the mind, or the development of a broad perspective is a classic 9th house signification. This speaks to not just the worldly wisdom that might be gained from travel, but any knowledge that may accrued from reading, watching, listening, or education.
All of these are higher (or more expanded) forms of corresponding 3rd house qualities. While the 3rd house reading or education refers to primary, secondary, and college level experience, the 9th house refers to higher graduate education. In particular, a doctorate in any field is a 9th house connotation, directly tied to the basic 9th house signification of philosophy-after all, a PhD is a doctor of philosophy. More generally, philosophical thought is a 9th house matter, and philosophers of all stripes live in the 9th house. Also, the 9th house signifies lifelong learning, and people with an active 9th house tend to be eternal students of life–these are both Sagittarian associations of the 9th house.
A typical Jupiterian signification of the 9th house is internationalism, or globalism. Someone with one or more planets in the 9th house will likely be drawn to and informed on happenings the world over, not just their immediate environment, or even country of residence. The interest and curiosity of such people iw wide ranging, and they are very likely to see themselves as citizens of the world.
Law and publishing are associated with the 9th house. Law here meaning the rules of human interaction that establish and ground social order, something that is the province of Jupiter. (The actual attribution of punishment for violation of law belongs to Saturn.) Publishing is about dissemination to the broadest possible audience, which is a 9th house issue since it expands (Jupiter) the world in which the spoken or written word (3rd house) is heard and seen.
Belief and religion are yet other Jupiterian associations with the 9th house. In my post on How to Approach Astrology, I recalled a little story from my early days in astrology, of a man who had Jupiter and Pluto in Leo in the 9th house of his horoscope. This particular configuration played out quite tellingly in his life: he was a Jehovah’s witness, knocking on people’s doors to get them to adopt his belief system.
People with an emphasized 9th house are given to exploration and adventure. This is not of the extreme kind that seeks thrills and can be dangerous, but rather the kind that feeds the mind, takes one to unfamiliar territory, and presents a good amount of uncertainty out of which a good amount of insight may be gained, about the world and about oneself. This particular brand of exploration is very Sagittarian, who is a nomad at heart.
Famous American evangelist Billy Graham has the all-important Moon tightly conjunct Mars in Sagittarius in the 9th house.
So here again we have the 9th house theme reinforced by the presence of Sagittarius itself in the 9th house. In addition, Graham has a tight trine of the Sun with Jupiter, which means Jupiter (and its 9th house signification by association) is tightly tied to Graham’s very identity (Sun). Since the Moon and Sun are both either directly tied to the 9th house, or to Sagittarius, or to Jupiter, Graham is the quintessential 9th house embodiment, exhibiting deep religious (Christian) belief, evangelical zeal, and spiritual leaning, and running several publishing and media outlets. According to Wikipedia, one of his biographers has placed him “among the most influential Christian leaders” of the 20th century.
