In astrology, the Planets represent differing types of energy or methods of behavior and the Signs describe the manner in which the planetary energy expresses itself. The Houses represent areas of experience WHERE the energy finds expression. They include both inner, psychological experiences and outer, material ones.
This is a rather complex and multifaceted area of astrological study. Please be aware that an elementary treatise of this type can only hope to scratch the surface as far as describing the Houses. With that in mind, here are some of the basics:
The twelve Houses are divided into the categories of Angular, Succedent, and Cadent, with four Houses in each category:
| ANGULAR | SUCCEDENT | CADENT |
| First | Second | Third |
| Fourth | Fifth | Sixth |
| Seventh | Eighth | Ninth |
| Tenth | Eleventh | Twelfth |
Again, very generally, ANGULAR HOUSES tend to express a greater range and amount of actual activity than Succedent or Cadent Houses. The First House is the most personal, with the Natal Ascendent ruling the First House cusp. It is sometimes referred to as the "House of Character." The Fourth House deals with, among other things, the second half of one's life, and is sometimes referred to as the "House of Endings." The Seventh House is sometimes called the "House of Partnership," and deals with partnerships of various sorts. The Tenth House, the "House of Reputation," is the most public, as the First is the most personal.
SUCCEDENT Houses, while having a lesser range and amount of action than Angular Houses, deal with matters of stability, purposefulness, and the power of the Will.
CADENT Houses deal with matters of thought, communication, sharing of ideas, and matters of social interaction.
The HOUSES OF LIFE represent the Fire Triplicity of the Houses, and deal with energy, enthusiasm, and personal motivation. These are the First (Self), Fifth (Children), and Ninth (Spirituality).
The HOUSES OF ENDINGS represent the Water Triplicity of the Houses, and include the Fourth (end of one's life, end of any matter), Eighth (death and regeneration), and Twelfth (the unconscious).
HOUSES OF SUBSTANCES represent the Earth Triplicity of Houses. They are the Second (possessions), Sixth (occupation) and Tenth (profession, reputation).
HOUSES OF RELATIONSHIPS represent the Air Triplicity, and describe various relationships in one's life. These are the Third (relationships with relatives and neighbors), Seventh (relationships with partners, both marriage and business), and Eleventh (relationships with friends and with organizations).
The following are some of the major matters pertaining to each of the twelve Houses:
The First House is the House of the Self. The Ascendent is always located on the cusp of the First House. The First House is said to relate to one's "physical needs" ... think food, shelter, clothing ... your preferences as far as dress, diet, and personal environment, in other words. Your general physical appearance, including stature, constitution, complexion and facial type, will be most strongly influenced by your Ascendent, and thus is a First House matter as well. The First House also represents the "outer you" ... yourself as others see you, the initial impression that you make on the world, and to some degree describes your basic 'tude toward life and preferred environment in general.
With Aries as its natural ruler, the First House is the area of your chart that jumps up and hollers to the world: I AM!
The Second House should be approached as having two equally valid, compatible interpretations: the literal and the allegorical, or the surface meanings and the deeper meanings. Ruled by Taurus, whose key phrase is I HAVE, the Second House is often called the "House of Possessions." On a literal level, this House indicates one's attitude toward -- and aptitude for -- money, goods, acquisitions: material possessions. On an internal level, House Two describes the things one finds of value generally, including tangible property, and the intangibles such as the qualities one is likely to value in one's self and others, the things one holds most dear. If "Truth is Beauty," then love of Truth is a Second House matter! Considered from another angle, money does equate to one degree or another with personal freedom. Our attitudes toward security, financial and emotional, will be reflected in the Second House.
With Gemini as its natural ruler, communication is obviously an important part of the Third House. Take note that this could include both verbal and non-verbal communicative styles. The Third House also acts as a repository and filter for our relationships with our siblings and neighbors, our attitudes and experiences with short-term travel and transportation, and offers valuable clues to how our individual minds process the information presented by our personal spheres.
Paradoxically, House Four is a "House of Endings" which also deals with some most important beginnings. Ruled by Lunar Cancer, the Fourth House concerns itself with emotions, with nurturing, with the past, and with our attitudes and approaches to these matters. As the Third House is sometimes said to relate to the conscious mind, to mentation, the Fourth is said to cover the territory of the subconscious. Western astrology has traditionally assigned the biological father and/or father figure to the Fourth House and the mother or maternal figurre to the Tenth, while Jyotish (Vedic astrology) reverses the polarity, assigning "maternal" characteristics to the Fourth and "paternal" to the Tenth. In modern times, some astrologers maintain that the Fourth House contains the more nurturing parent, while others insist that the opposite sex parent belongs to House Four. It is important to examine the natal chart as a whole in order to make sense of this and other astrological matters wherein discrepancies exist.
Other Fourth House matters include land and real estate, the individual's sense of and need for privacy, and the most private thoughts and feelings of the individual. Planets in the Fourth House provide important clues regarding the "second half" of one's life. The "House of Endings," Casa Quatro may provide a picture of the end of one's life, as well as the end of various important matters, such as jobs, partnerships, and relationships. Most importantly, the way the individual feels about these matters and the ways he or she is likely to react to them, are pointed up by the Fourth House.
The Fifth House is one of the "Houses of Life," and expresses the creative, joyful side of one's life -- and of LIFE, generally. With Leo as its natural ruler, House Five could be called the "heart" of one's natal chart, and reflects what might be described as "fun under will." The Fifth House is an important element of one's sexual makeup, and reflects the more joyous, creative and playful aspects of physical love. Children in general are considered a Fifth House matter, as are hobbies and games, sports, gambling, and to an extent, one's natural talents. Please note that there is an important difference between one's talents and one's skills. Skill is something that one develops, something that can be taught and improved upon. Talent is something inherent. One may be born with an aptitude for music, for example, but if the talent remains undeveloped, if one's craft is not practiced, the skill may remain latent. Other Houses deal more effectively with the skill aspect, but House Five is where you'll find clues about the natural talents themselves. Developing them, of course, is up to YOU. Joseph Campbell once said, "We cannot end the world of sorrows; we can however, choose to live in joy." Move on into the Fifth House and grab LIFE with both hands!
The Sixth House strikes some as a rather confusing melange; the key to drawing the diverse threads together lies in keeping in mind that the natural ruler of House Six is Mercury-driven, analytical Virgo. This House is concerned with a love of knowledge and desire to learn, with our everyday routines and chores, with the work we do to make a living, rather than the loftier "true vocation" idea. Also included in the Sixth House are matters of service to others, physical health and its maintenance, possible susceptibility to illness, and labor and tools in general. The conditions under which you work, and your relationship with employees and subordinates are especially pointed out in this House. Small animals, wild and domestic, and your likely interactions with them may also be found here.
The Seventh House, naturally ruled by Libra, is often called the "House of Partnerships." So-called "relationship charts" will make careful note of the signs and planets falling within the partner's Seventh House, for this is, most especially, the House of one-to-one relationships ... it could be described, not inaccurately, as the "House of the Other" in our lives, what it is about the not-us that pulls and attracts us, makes us wish to move closer and discover more. The Seventh House also represents our known enemies, our social drive and awareness, and our dealings with "the public" in a broader sense. Anyone or any thing with which we could be said to have an intimate partnership will be indicated in this sphere of the natal chart, along with our attitudes and beliefs about marriage, divorce, and partnerships, both business and personal.
Naturally ruled by Scorpio, with its key phrase I DESIRE, the Eighth House is related to death and regeneration, our sexual nature at its deepest levels (as the Fifth indicates our approach to the lighter side of sexuality), and other people's resources and our attitudes toward same. While this "House of Endings" does deal specifically with loss, and with how we handle the losses that must surely come in life, a more important component of Eighth House matters is what could be called transcendence ... for, while loss is an inevitable part of living, the concept of transformation, of triumph over tragedy, of rebirth, if you will, is inextricably bound up with House Eight as well. Think of the Phoenix rising from the ashes -- not what it was before consumption by the pyre, but something new, something different, something which could be called better because it specifically speaks to having been to the other side and returned, deeply marked and fundamentally changed. Wills, testaments, profiting through the loss of others, study of the psyche, various occult matters, and, lest we forget, the libido, are all Eighth House matters. Should this seem a bit morbid, keep in mind that the French refer to the orgasm as la petite morte ... the death of separation through union is referred to here, as well as the death of anything that serves to keep us from perfect concentration on this specific moment. "For I am divided for love's sake, for the chance of union. This is the creation of the world, that the pain of division is as nothing, and the joy of dissolution all." Die daily!
Are you a neophobe or a neophile? Perhaps the answer lies in your Ninth House placements. This House relates to the individual's philosophy about, well, life, the universe and everything. Remember that this does not necessarily equate to the way one behaves, or how others interpret one's beliefs, but to the philosophy itself, to what we SEE. The Ninth House speaks to the ways in which our deeper identity is formed, to the way in which we, as individuals, interact and relate to the larger world around us, discover our place within the greater schema. A major theme of House Nine is foreign travel and long journeys ... these journeys are both the ones we take literally, far from our own comfortable little world, and the journeys of the soul as it encounters people, places, and things "foreign" to our natures, and in turn, helps to form our natures in a wider sense. Higher education of the formal sort, and of the informal but infinitely important sort, are Ninth House matters, as are printing and publishing, diplomacy, strangers, the law, the courts, and the expansion of consciousness that could (some would say "should!") follow from their encounter.
As noted in the description of the Fourth House, above, various astrologers ascribe either the mother/maternal figure or father/paternal figure to each one. With Capricorn as its natural ruler, the Tenth House is a House of career -- as opposed to mere job -- to one's sense of destiny, vocation, or "calling," rather than simply "what one does to earn a living." The Tenth House refers to the "living" itself, to the individual's deepest sense of "what I'm here for." The angle referred to as the "Midheaven" is usually (though not always!) located on the cusp of the Tenth House. The career, worldly reputation, and social position of the individual are important Tenth House matters, along with his or her goals, aspirations, achievements, and attitude toward and relationship with perceived authority figures.
This is the most social of the twelve Houses; naturally ruled by Aquarius, House Eleven will describe the individual's relationship with and feelings about groups and organizations, friends, benefactors, and those with something to teach us. This House will describe our social selves, the way which we relate to peers and equals. Humanitarian concerns are most assuredly an Eleventh House matter, however, keep in mind that this does not necessarily speak to how we'll relate to the actual people in our daily lives, as larger groups -- even "humanity" as a whole -- are what's indicated here. Our interaction with large groups and the way in which we deal with the obstacles that life sometimes throws our way will be indicated by the placements of House Eleven.
In some ways the most "mysterious" of the Houses, the Twelfth describes the workings of our unconscious minds, on both an individual and a universal level. Ruled by Pisces, with its key phrase I BELIEVE, House Twelve is a sort of repository for all our "beliefs," including the ones we don't consciously recognize as beliefs, the things we absorb at an unconscious level about ourselves, our strengths, and our most hidden weaknesses and vulnerabilities. Our attitudes and proclivities toward fantasy, illusion, our deepest inner hopes and fears, are all Twelfth House matters, as are, traditionally, hospitals, prisons and other institutions, widows and orphans, and secret enemies. Large or fierce animals also have a place in the Twelfth House, as do crime, trickery and secrecy in general. If this is beginning to sound more than a little off-putting, fear not! The Twelfth House contains important beliefs, feelings, and experiences whose common factor is that they must be experienced and dealt with all alone. It's not such a bad thing: at the core, both birth and death are ultimately faced all alone. Twelfth House matters are not lightweight things that others can simply show you how to deal with or solve. The Twelfth House represents those DETAILS wherein the concept that some call "God" can be found and, ultimately, understood.