I was wondering this morning if empty houses may indicate areas we aren’t immediately conscious of / areas of our life that run their affairs without our conscious effort. This can be seen by the very fact of the house's emptiness – there are no points of consciousness (planets) that act directly in the house. We may simply not be aware of the affairs indicated by the empty house, or they may not be a priority, or they may be hidden by their nature (12th house for example). And this can be good or bad – if the house is ruled by a planet in bad condition who is thus unable to take care of the affairs of this house, our lack of consciousness here means we can fail to identify obstacles. On the other hand, a well-dignified ruler of an empty house may deliver ease to the affairs indicated by the house, or bring about good results to the point that we may not have been impelled to examine the source. (Why look a gift horse in the mouth?, we may reason. Well, even gift horses need a vet sometimes.) Outside consultation, then, becomes particularly useful – in addition to independent contemplation of the natal chart – as far as it aids the native’s awareness of their gifts and obstacles, especially those they may not have a direct, conscious link to it naturally. We simply can’t see what we can’t see.
What do you think-- does this make sense? Can you identify areas in your life that either work without your conscious intervention, or seem to resist your awareness & change? How do you treat empty houses in your natal chart and/or readings?
Cheers. 
As long as there is a planet in opposing house the empty house is pretty much active and conscious... I think. To me those are intertwined, one energy field. Triggering one has a ripple effect on the other.
Empty axis on the other hand... YES!
I have nothing in Aries/Libra axis natally. The affairs of those houses had run without my conscious effort until Uranus entered Aries. This transit is eyeopener. I was so oblivious to so many things.
Those houses also felt like a different plane. There was no much outside interference and I wasn't looking for external validation or opinion regarding those matters either.
I wish I had an answer to that b/c my 6th &nd 7th houses are both empty and both ruled by Mars, who's sneakily hiding in 12th in Libra, 2 positions not good for Mars.
I agree about the lack of consciousness! Everyone is preoccupied with 7th house, but this has never been a preoccupation for me. I don't even know what to think about it. That seems coherent with 12th house, at least. In fact, I'm not even sure I want to know about it.
My 6th house, well, thas one is a bummer - I just completely lack patience with 6th house, I try to avoid anything to do with it.
So, I would say: yes, a badly aspected ruler of a house gives a lousy performance concerning things related to that house.
After that, the results might be just indifferent, or even a good surprise - things don't always turn out so bad. It's just that I'm not sure how or why they happen the way they do. It feels like I'm not in control, and not even trying.