The 5th House governs the spheres of your indirect self-expression: at a high level, this is a truly creative process, at an average – various games or entertainment in which you partake willingly and play various roles. Generally speaking, the roles of the Fifth House, unlike the personality of the First House, are not fixed: you can change them at your own discretion, but, of course, not quite arbitrarily, since any external situation puts strong pressure on you, imposing a very definite role defying which can be very difficult. In communication and any other interactions with a partner, you usually develop one or two roles and the corresponding masks, which you exploit mercilessly.

Thus, your most common and natural roles and masks are reflected in your Fifth House and its natal aspects while the synastric aspects will show what roles and games you will play with your partner.

One source of big confusion can be the discrepancy between the Houses in your natal chart vs. your partner’s. In the case of the 5th House, you subconsciously consider your roles and masks as some tools used to interact with the outside world (and with various egregors representing the subtle world) but that are still separate from your essence. This, however, will be difficult for a partner to understand if your Fifth House corresponds to his or her personal, ethical, or existential attitudes: serious things that you take playfully.

Running into your 5th House, your synastry partner will see you in your casual form, perhaps being frivolous and free and often quite eccentric, but this can hardly be considered your true form. The Fifth House is essentially a theatrical stage where it is natural to expect from partners acting skills but not a frank confession. All this can sometimes lead your Fifth House synastry partner to despair, especially if he needs to talk to you seriously while you respond with a quote from your favorite poet. On the other hand, especially with the defeat of the 5th House, your masks and roles may be gloomy, and you’ll suffocate your partner with them, and it may be very difficult for them to defend.

It is worth noting, however, that the Fifth House is far from being as festive-fun-frivolous as it might seem at the first glance into an astrological textbook where lovers, entertainment, children, sports, and various games will likely be mentioned in the corresponding chapter. The truth is that games and game situations (which truly are governed by the 5th House) in adulthood are considerably more common than is thought, and most often there is nothing funny, frivolous, or sincere about them: rather, they are plots being routinely repeated in one’s life. They can be very difficult and even destructive for some, and sometimes all participants without exception. Therefore, activating your Fifth House with your planets, a synastry partner invites you to include him or her in one of your standard games, and it will be very difficult to resist this invitation since you already have a lot of experience in these scenarios and it is likely that the partner will be faced with a choice: either

1. to fit into your game in a certain role, or
2. to break your entire game system as a whole, or
3. to get away from you.

If the partner chooses the second option and turns out to be strong and persistent enough, he can literally destroy your main roles and masks, and then you will find yourself in a very difficult position, like a lady who had all her clothes stolen: it is quite difficult to go out like that. Subconsciously, people feel this danger and protect their roles, games, and favorite scenarios.

The synastric planets of the 5th House will show what roles you will (often unconsciously) try to define for your partner. Most often, the partner will not mind at first, but later, when the rest of our synastries turn on, the situation can change.

In general, synastric planets can be interpreted in a role-playing manner in all your Houses: for example, the synastric Sun symbolizes your partner as a father figure, the Moon as a mother or daughter, Venus as a lover or rival, Mars as a fan or rival, etc. … But in the Fifth House, life acquires an especially symbolic meaning: you perceive your partner as acting in the same play with you, and the synastric planets of your 5th House will indicate his or her role from which there is no escape.