Here is some information about the third house: it is under the horizon. It is sextiled to the ascendant and where the Moon receives joy. It is cadent and falls away from the angle of the IC.

Here is some information about the ninth house: it is over the horizon. It makes a trine to the ascendant and it is where the Sun receives joy. It is also cadent but considered to be the strongest cadent house. It falls away from the angle of the midheaven.

The axis between the third and the ninth houses is one where there’s actually a really big difference in terms of strength of expression. Usually, because the lunar nodes are always in oppositional houses in the chart, the places where they express themselves are pretty much equal. If one node is in a dark house, then the other one will also be in a dark house. If one is in an angle of the chart, then the other one will also be in an angle.

The ninth house is kind of special because it has strength even though it cadent simply because of its special relationship to the Sun. Planets in the ninth house don’t tend to behave like other planets in cadent houses. They have a stronger expression. That, combined with the over the horizon thing and the trine to the ascendant means that the axis between the third and ninth houses can sometimes feel a bit uneven.

I think this is why there is so much emphasis on big and small with the third and ninth houses. When we think of the third house, we think of rituals and routines. We think of small daily tasks and everyday actions. We think of the third house as the house of the everyday.

The ninth house feels big and has a big feeling too. It’s the house of spirituality and ideology. It’s the house of grand gestures and big thoughts. Sometimes, it feels like the ninth house towers over the third house in a way.

South Node in the Third House, North Node in the Ninth House

These people are quite crafty. They might be master knitters, make beautiful crochets, or know exactly how to fine tune an instrument to get it to really sing. Planets that are placed in the third house find satisfaction when they commit to learning a craft thoroughly. When people who have their south node in the third house commit to learning something, they really learn it. They get obsessed with it, accomplish the technical pieces, and then they move onto the next thing.

There’s a lot of security that someone can get by learning how to employ a skill and figure out how to do it well. Having the south node in the third house of everyday strategies means that this person not only figures out how to do something in a skilled way, they also know the ins and ends of that skill including where it is most applicable and where it is not. They have an idea of what learning the skill might bring to them.

People who have the south node in the third house might not readily identify themselves with naivete. Instead, they are comforted by their earned intelligence. They want to study the details within the part of the world where they inhabit and they want to be able to pull the strings using their knowledge of these details a bit. This is something that can make someone feel safer or more secure in life.

The ninth house is the house of faith. When the north node is in the ninth house, it’s actually really really hard to find faith and to keep faith around one’s dreams. It’s really hard to step off of a cliff and to believe that you’ll land somehow on your feet. It’s hard for people who have their north node in the ninth house to take a leap of faith or to do things when they don’t have any evidence, except for their faith, that everything will work out.

Part of the reason why it’s so hard to nurture faith is because faith can feel a bit foolish to north node in the ninth house people. Remember—these people hesitate to identify with naivete. They don’t want to be made into fools by uncontrollable circumstances. It feels much easier to stick to one’s own smaller world and to keep doing things that one already knows how to do quite well. However, being a little more naive and having audacious dreams is often the thing that drives people who have north node in the ninth house to grow. It is better to be thought of as foolish and learn than to always be thought of as smart when the protection of that intelligence means that you don’t do things that challenge you.

South Node in the Ninth House, North Node in the Third House

When the south node of the Moon is located in the ninth house, this actually puts a lot of pressure on dreams in general. This person may feel like they had to inherit a parent’s dream or another family member's vision of what they should set out to be. They might feel like their potential is really overtaken by someone else’s dream.

This doesn’t need to be a negative thing. Maybe you have a parent who didn’t get to learn how to play a musical instrument because their parents couldn’t afford it and they really want you to be musically inclined. Maybe a parent didn’t marry for love and they taught you to always strive for genuine affection. Maybe a parent put all of the resources at their disposal into your education and upbringing because they wanted you to have something bigger and better than what they had.

Still, there’s a lot of pressure that comes with the south node in the ninth house. The ninth house is the house of growth and potential. The south node here gives an overused or tired feeling. People who have the south node in the ninth house are tired of having to be people who perform potential and possibility for the sake of other people in their lives.

The third house north node is actually very telling. What often happens when the north node is located in the third house is that the person has a lot of trouble figuring out how to care for themselves in everyday life. On the surface, it might not seem that bad. Maybe someone forgets to take out the trash or maybe they don’t know how to cook for themselves or do the dishes. Maybe they forget to shower consistently. So what? Don’t we all have better things to worry about?

The third house is actually the place where we nurture our own self interest. The ninth house can feel very exciting. This person is aspirational and they put all of their energy into growth. However, the third house is also very important. The third house is about how interested we feel about how interested we feel about our own lives. A person who has their north node in the third house is actually trying to figure out how to feel invested in the life that they create for themselves not for the sake of filling an image of who they feel they should be or need to be but for the enjoyment of life itself. They’re trying to learn that life doesn’t always need to be bigger or better to feel absolutely fascinating. They’re trying to accept that they are worthy of their own interest even when they are not on a goal towards conquering, that life is meaningful even when it is a little aimless.