The 11th House in the Chart: The Collective

I wanted to write about the 11th house today, because I have a lot of planets in this house in my own chart, so it's actually one of my favourites :)

The 11th house is usually associated with these two themes:

• friends, groups, clubs, social circle
• hopes, dreams, wishes, aspirations

But, even more so, I think it is about this sense of collectivity and collaboration.
Of becoming a part of something bigger.
When it comes to friends and social groups I would consider this your "chosen family", the ones who share your ideals and views on the world - and this is the connection between these two themes.
A group of people who share your vision of the future. A collaborative aspiration.

This summer, I was at a festival and I wanted to share this one experience with you which really represented the 11th house theme for me:

This is about the performance of Skrillex. Not exactly what I listen to, but I was excited for it anyways because I knew this was going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
I was in this huge crowd, everyone was touching shoulders, there was no personal space and as soon as the beat dropped, everyone started jumping.
It was so synchronous, without anyone even trying, and even if you didnt want to jump, you had to, because the shoulders touching you were yanking you up and down.

I was this one person in a crowd of thousands. I'm usually not comfortable with this, because I'm quite introverted, but this felt so intimate and private.
It was like everyone lost their personal identities and the whole crowd became a unity.
It's said that music is the most uniting thing in the world, because different people from all kinds of backgrounds come together to listen to the same song and dance in the same rythm.
While thousands are consciously witnessing the same thing, it becomes a collective experience, not a personal or individual one.
You feel so close with complete strangers because you are sharing this special experience.

Another example of an 11th house experience are demonstrations.
This is about sharing goals, dreams and wishes with a large amount of people.
The 11th house also rules progress, revolution and the future.
It is about social engagement and moving towards a goal outside of oneself.
Surrendering your personal ego for something bigger.

I really love the stories of student fraternities that catalyzed historical revolutions.
Especially the brotherhoods from the french revolution.
It's about team spirit, "we're all in this together", but, rather than just friendship, this is about a bigger group that is as close as it possibly could be with its large amount of members.

Kind of like biker gangs with members all over the world, yet they are all ""brothers".

I really wanted to end this blogpost with probably my favourite scene from one of my favourite movies!
The barricade boys in Les Mis starting the revolution! I highly suggest you watch this clip (or, better yet, the whole film), because it really shows this connection and this feeling of collectivity and collaboration that comes with a shared cause, vision or aspiration.

Marina