What the Sixth House governs
The Sixth House rules the daily fabric of a working life: the job (as opposed to the vocation of the Tenth), routine, service and the disciplines of health and the body. It is the house of the craftsman and the servant of the work — of habit, maintenance and the small repeated acts that either build or erode wellbeing.
As a cadent house it is adaptable and process-oriented, concerned with adjustment and improvement.
The Sixth House in the birth chart
The cusp sign and ruler describe a person’s relationship to work, routine and health, and their instinct for service. Planets in the Sixth are drawn into daily labour and the body; Mercury or Mars here can bring diligence or restlessness to routine, while difficult placements may show where health needs conscious tending.
The Sixth / Twelfth axis
The Sixth House of work, order and the body opposes the Twelfth House of retreat, dissolution and the soul. The axis runs from doing to being, from the visible task to the hidden inner life, from health to healing. Burnout and renewal both live along this line.