The sixth house is strongly related to service to others in a giving way. As an example, people who work in nursing, medical technology, or the armed services, or are television producers or are highly productive in an unassuming, modest and, in some cases, spiritual way have strong sixth houses.
Daily routines and work-a-day tasks that come across your desk are covered by this sector. The sign on the cusp of this sector will describe the nature of the work you do, your approach to work, the tools you use, and your work environment. This house also rules those who report to you, whether at home (personally), such as a nanny, housekeeper, or gardener, or at work, such as an assistant or team member whose work you oversee. If you are the CEO, all your employees are found in the sixth house.
If you have engaged an expert who has confidential one-to-one conversations with you, such as an agent or accountant, that relationship would not fall in the sixth house, but rather the seventh house, which covers serious, committed business partnerships (as well as marriage).
If you hope to change jobs and get a better, more prestigious one, you will need to search after a favorable new moon in your tenth house, for a new moon in the sixth house would bring offers for a job similar to the one you have now, called a lateral move. (That may be fine with you if you have other things going on in your life and don’t want to take on more responsibility at work.)
All domestic pets and small animals also are ruled by the sixth house.
The conscious mind comes under the domain of the sixth house. (The house opposite on the horoscope wheel, the twelfth house, rules the subconscious mind, and also includes intuition, hunches, and dreams.)
The sixth house has another function. It covers health but in a very specific way—it covers the preventative steps you take on a regular basis to stay strong and healthy. For example, regular medical and dental exams and screenings would be governed by this house as well as taking a seasonal flu shot or having your eyes tested by the optometrist. Nutrition, fitness, and exercise are covered by this house too, as well as making sure to take any medicine or vitamins your doctor has prescribed for you. A powerful component in this house is the determination to make a regular, consistent effort, which you might refer to as habit or a regular routine.
Here is an important point: When studying someone’s health, the astrologer studies the first house, which describes radiance, vitality, and strength, together with this house. The sixth house reflects how the you care for yourself and also describes your ability to follow the doctor’s program. The doctor would be covered by the seventh house—there is a one-to-one confidentially and expertise inherent in the seventh house doctor/patient relationship.
Surgery of all kinds, including dental surgery, is covered by the eighth house of transformation. The twelfth house rules places of confinement and healing: hospitals, nursing homes, rehab centers, and physical therapy centers as some examples. (Jails and prisons are covered by the same twelfth house, too.)
The sixth sector is naturally ruled by the intellectual, objective planet Mercury and the detailed and service-oriented sign of Virgo.