The Houses in Astrology

Marcos has already been covering a few key topics in his astrology lessons for you guys- and if you’ve missed those, here are a few to get you started for after this one:

The 12 Zodiac Signs

The Ascendant or Rising Sign

Born on The Cusp

Those are just the ones I get asked about quite a lot, if you browse back through the blog, you’ll find a number of really helpful entries to get you started. I thought that since the baton’s been passed to me in a sense, I’d start at the very beginning: as The Sound of Music famously taught us- it’s a very good place to start. ;)

I’m not going to sing these. Trust me, nobody wants that.

So, everything works with this wheel-shaped chart- each of the 12 houses in astrology go around it. There are actually two wheels- the one containing the houses, and the zodiac wheel, containing the signs. Now, the zodiac wheel is going by the Sun’s rotation around the Earth each year, whereas the houses are based on the 24-hour rotation of the Earth along its axis. They come together when we do a full natal chart: this is why astrologers need your time and place of birth to draft your chart- those exact details will open up a whooooole world of things you don’t get with the basic sun signs.

After this, you’ll find that planets go into the zodiac sign and then, in a house. For example- comparing two charts, we can see how this works. The first is mine, and the second belongs to Robert Downey Jr.- who is said to be into astrology. (I’m not sure that this is his time of birth, but it’s listed various places and well, for the example: it doesn’t really matter, for this.) I’m going to talk about the Moon sign, which I will go into in our next lesson a bit- but, it’s usually pretty easy to spot no matter what software you use: it usually looks like a crescent moon.

Now, in my chart, looking at the house wheel, the moon is in the 10th house in both charts. The zodiac wheel, however, shows his moon in Taurus and mine in Leo. This is just an example to show you the differences between the two and how they can vary.

So, that said, I’m just going to go into a brief overview of each of the 12 houses here, to help you better understand what’s meant by “in the [Whatever Number] house”. A little later, we can go into which houses hold more “weight” so to speak and why. Of course, the things covered by these houses can entail a bit more than just these general overviews- but, for now, to get you started, this should help.

1st House: The House of Self

The first house is usually referred to the house of self- and it tends to encompass the way we perceive ourselves, our personality, appearance, the way we see life on a basic level and in general: those things that involve, well...ourselves. When you’ve got planets here, they tend to influence the way that your personality is and the way others may see you.

2nd House: The House of Money and Possessions

Most people look at the 2nd house when they’re looking at the things we own, the way those things influence our self-worth and esteem, and also, any talents we might have but may not be fully aware of.

3rd House: The House of Communication

In addition to communication, which is fairly self-explanatory, the 3rd house tends to cover those issues of the lower mind- shallow thinking, not deep thinking. Basic intellect is also covered here, as is siblings, the things within a person’s immediate environment, short distance travel, and transportation in general.

4th House: The House of Home, Family, Foundations

While the 2nd house does cover possessions, there’s one that it doesn’t: the home. The 4th house covers this and everything associated with it- and can refer to both the house you live in now, but also, where you grew up, in some cases. This also goes figurative: our foundations and those things that develop our emotional security.

Note: There is some debate as to whether or not this house would be associated with a person’s mother, because it can often reflect the way a person was brought up and how that impacted the way they relate emotionally.

5th House: The House of Creativity, Children, Pleasure

You’ll find a lot of personal interests here, whether they be love interests, the risks we may take, sports, creative endeavors, or the way we seek out pleasure. This house, similarly to the 1st house, is a very “self” oriented house, and is generally reflective of how we enjoy ourselves.

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6th House: The House of Day to Day Work, Service, Health

While your actual career may be reflected in your 10th house, the sort of jobs you might do are covered with the 6th. This is because this house reflects those sort of mundane, day to day things we do. In addition to this, health, the things we do out of service, and our physical abilities may be shown here.

7th House: House of Marriage and Other Partnerships

Though this tends to be where people look initially to discern marriage options for a client- it also covers other partnerships as well. Those contracts and other things where we have to cooperate with other people on a one on one basis. This house can also often reflect the way that a person relates to others closest to themselves- and can help you to better understand the issues that may come about in that particular area.

8th House: House of Sex and Joint Finances

Though the 8th house will often get a little wink, wink, nudge, nudge: it is about more than just sex. This would also be where you find clues as to someone’s more esoteric talents, tax concerns, possessions you share with others, inheritances, and in some cases, information about death. But yes, it’s also the house of sex and some things associated with it, as well.

9th House: House of Philosophy and Higher Education

While I mention that the 3rd house is more lower-mind intellect- the 9th is where you find the higher mind stuff. This is also where you’d find religion, legal things, your morality, certain spiritual pursuits and interests in more distance related travel, specifically, to foreign lands and interests pertaining to that.

10th House: House of Status, Reputation, Career

I like to think of the 10th house as being more about power- less about money, but, as they sometimes go hand in hand: you’ll find certain financial success indicators here at times, as well. This house also often covers those things where we are in the public eye- and how we approach social and societal responsibilities. As I mentioned above, this would also be where we find career- the thing we do that isn’t just a job type situation.

Note: This house is often associated with the father, though there is some debate on that. In general, it does indicate someone in a position of authority that had a great deal of influence early on.

11th House: House of Friends

While a few of the houses we have covered thus far are sort of one on one, or closely related influences: the 11th house tends to refer more to community, larger groups and friendships on that level. It can also show a bit about our hopes, dreams, and goals- and how we find our self-actualization.

12th House: House of The Subconscious, Hidden Things

The final house, the 12th house, usually refers to the subconscious mind. It can also be where you find those hidden parts of you- whether they’re deliberately hidden or otherwise. This is also one of those houses where you can find those patterns and habits that tend to be how we shoot ourselves in the foot, and the lies we tell ourselves. It isn’t all negative, however- very few things in astrology are. You can also find indications of spiritual meaning and other healing influences in this house.