This is a short, abbreviated explanation of the astrological houses and a list of astrological house meanings. This is for students of astrology, those who want to look deeper into their own birth chart, or those who want to know more about how the current transits are impacting them.

WHAT IS A HOUSE IN A BIRTH CHART?

A birth chart is like a snapshot of the planetary positions in the zodiac at the moment of birth for a person, place, or thing. In Western astrology, the shape of a birth chart is circular and divided into sections. These sections are called houses and they are numbered from one to twelve, one for each zodiac sign. Think of a round pizza with slices. Each “slice” is a house in a birth chart. The houses signify different areas of life. Each house contains a sign of the zodiac and the planets that were in those signs at the moment of birth.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE FIRST HOUSE

The first house of a natal chart contains the rising sign, which signifies sign that was rising on the eastern horizon at that exact time and location of birth. The rising sign includes the degree of the ascendant. The first house is located at the nine o’clock position on the left-hand side. The degree of the ascendant helps to determine other important degrees in the chart like the descendant, midheaven, and imum coeli. The subsequent signs and houses go around the chart counter clockwise in zodiacal order. In a single day, the rising sign changes every two hours.

If you don’t know your rising sign, then you don’t know which signs and planets go in which houses. If your exact birth time or location is unknown, some expert astrologers can use a technique called chart rectification to figure out your rising sign.

The location of birth determines which sign was rising on the eastern horizon. The minute of birth determines the degree of the ascendant and the degrees of all of the other planets. Even twins who are born a few minutes apart from each other can have drastically different charts. People who were born at the same exact minute of the same day in the same hospital will lead similar lives, although this is rare. As they grow up, the transits will affect them in similar ways, but their free will and past life experiences change the way they respond to each situation. This is the case for everyone else too.

HOUSE SIGNIFICATIONS

These are the areas of life associated with each house. When interpreting charts, astrologers consider many factors like the sign and planets of each house, the conditions of the planets, and how the planets are aspecting each other, etc. The house significations listed below are not comprehensive. For a more comprehensive treatment of house significations, you can watch episode #331 of The Astrology Podcast.

• 1st House: Your body and soul, appearance, behavior, vitality, physical constitution, ambitions. 

• 2nd House: Self-worth, livelihood, relationship to money, income, resources, possessions, sustenance, security and contentment, the ability to satisfy your own needs.

• 3rd House: Your local community, neighborhood, commute, people you see daily, activism, your opinions and attitudes, how you problem solve, social contacts, lower education, communications, intake of daily information.

• 4th House: Parents, home life, family dynamics, private life, property, your foundation, attitude toward nurturing and support, parenting style, emotional baseline, living situation, endings, ancestry, genetics, lineage.

• 5th House: Recreation, fun, hobbies, entertainment, speculative business, gambling, procreation, fertility, pregnancy, children, pleasure, creative potential, artistic projects, creation, perpetuating a legacy, apprenticeship, material fortunes and personal wealth, advancement of success, luck.

• 6th House: Physical health, illness, injuries, duties, obligations, daily routine, small pets, employees, subordinates, service.

• 7th House: Relationships, partnerships, marriage, other people, clients, contracts, death, shared objective, collaboration.

• 8th House: Post-mortem activities/events, inheritance, livelihood of the marriage partner, shared assets, inactivity, squandering what is gained, punishments or justice, the value you offer to others, other people’s money, taxes, loans, investments, debt, joint resources, sexual intimacy, mutual aid.

• 9th House: Long distance travel, foreign people, higher education, religion, divination, astrology, places of worship, philosophies, unfamiliar environments, overseas, life direction, exploration, publishing, broadcasting, thought leaders, truth, beliefs, worldview, metaphysics, ethics, vacation, developing ideas.

• 10th House: Public standing, reputation, career, superiors, advancement, success, fame, status.

• 11th House: Friends, groups, alliances, supporters, clubs, fans, hopes and wishes.

• 12th House: Mental health, rest, confinement, isolation, seclusion, invisible illness, sickness, enemies, self-undoing, hidden activities, being unavailable, feeling lost, retreat, estrangement, pre-birth.

Traditionally, each zodiac sign is ruled by a visible planet. Since each house contains a zodiac sign, that house is then also ruled by the planet that rules that sign. Rulership, exaltations, aspects, and some sign significations were established by the logic and rationale of the Thema Mundi, which was developed by the ancient Mesopotamians.

Hopefully this quick overview gives you a better understanding of the houses in a birth chart!