The 12 Houses of Astrology

If you’re ready to move beyond the horoscope and want to feel more empowered in relationship to your natal chart, you are in the right place. If general astro forecasts feel too vague (I need MORE!) and horoscopes feel too scripted or specific (Where is this coming from?), look no further than the Houses. 

When you look at your natal chart, you’ll see that it’s divided into 12 pieces. Well, each of those represents a House; and each House holds certain topics, themes and areas that pertain to your life. 

The Houses are the key for interpreting how transits affect your chart and what topics will be coming up as planets move through the sky. The Houses can also help you get more specific, more nuanced, in your interpretation of your natal placements. For instance, if someone has a Gemini Sun in the 8th house, that is going to read very differently than if someone has a Gemini Sun in the 4th house. 

I know it sounds complicated, and we can go there sometime if you want. But it can also be quite simple. I’ve got a short video and a free download that will make it all super practical and easy for your everyday life. 

The Orientation of the Houses in your Natal Chart

If you haven't already, go ahead and pull up a copy of your natal chart. It’s good to have one on hand any way. Screenshot it. Save it to your phone. Or, better yet, print out a copy you can work with in real life. Having it close by as a visual reference will make personalizing this otherwise abstract concept oh-so-much easier. 

Now, look at your chart. Notice the sections that look like pieces of pie beginning with 1 on the left hand side, then moving counterclockwise all the way around until you get to number 12. 

The First House — the slice with the 1 on the inside towards the center— is also your Rising Sign; and it represents you in your chart. It is also the House where your Ascendant is (look for the AC symbol), and every other house is organized around the First… around you.

NOTE: it’s important to make sure you have a very accurate birth time. Sometimes the difference of just a few minutes will change the degree of the Ascendant + the First House; and this could change the orientation of the whole chart.

How the Houses + Signs of the Zodiac Work Together

If you pulled up your chart using whole sign houses (what I use), then each sign of the zodiac also corresponds to a house in your chart. For instance, if your Rising Sign (First House) is Virgo, then your Second House will be Libra, your Third House will be Scorpio and so on and so forth around the counterclockwise clock. 

At first glance, notice where your Sun is in the chart. What sign is it in? Are you an Aries Sun? Then you would find the Aries glyph ♈︎ and find the House number for that sign. Is Aries located in the the 7th House? The specific house + sign relationship is one of the (many) things that make your Aries Sun unique from all the other Aries Suns.

Once you’ve determined what house it’s in, now look at your free downloadable guide and see what topics are in that House. This can tell you about some more details regarding your purpose, direction, vitality and creative expression. Your Sun is expressing itself through the topics of this House. You can also do the same for your Moon or any other planet in your chart. 

Also notice if there are certain Houses where you have two or more planets in them. That can describe a concentration of energy or action in this area of your life. 

An Introduction to the 12 Houses

The First House : The Rising Sign + The Ascendant

This House describes the ship of you on the epic voyage of life. Like we talked about earlier, the Ascendant (AC) is in the First House, and this is the exact moment where Heaven met Earth and became you in the world. It’s the portal for your life, if you will. It can also describe your body, appearance, behavior and the way you leave an impression on others. When planets transit through this sign-house in your chart, it is more likely to affect you more personally. 

The Second House: Money, Possessions + Personal Finances

The 2nd House is all about that which supports your life. What are the resources, income and materials you need to make and sustain your life? This is the area of the chart where we look for your personal dollar bills (or Euros, etc.)

The Third House: Siblings, Communication + Neighborhood

Here we see topics about the everyday + the near. For instance, your everyday communications, siblings or extended family, your neighborhood area or even short-distance travel + how you get around town.

The Fourth House: House, Home, Parents + Origins

This is the most private house in the chart, down at the very bottom. In ancient times, it was often looked to for the “end of the matter.” Here, we can glean insights about where you come from, your origins + ancestors, what the concept of home is like for you and your roots.

The Fifth House: Creativity, Sex, Pleasure, + Children

We don’t all create kids in this life (or want to), but we all work with creative potential as well as the capacity to produce ideas, work or arts that will become our legacy— what we leave behind. In the 5th House we can also look for references to leisure, pleasure, play, dating life and, of course, sex (because that is also something we can do for fun!)

get your free guide

to the astrological houses + how transits play out in your natal chart

yes, please

The Sixth House: Daily Regimens, Pets + Where you Work for Others (or Others Work for You)

While it’s not the most glamorous house in the world, it does tend to take up a lot of time. This area of the chart tells us about injuries, health regiments or issues, and pets. It can also be a House where we examine relationships to power and authority, and reflect on concepts of subordination and working for or with others. 

The Seventh House: Partnerships

Directly across from the First House, the you in the chart, we have the Others. In the 7th House we look for committed partnerships. These could be romantic partnerships, long-term relationships, or even business partners. We can also see one-on-one client work or interactions show up here as well.

The Eighth House: Other People’s Money, Debt, Taxes, Inheritances + Death

Like I always say in my workshops, life isn’t all roses and rainbows. So a wheel describing our life also needs to have a way we can describe all the realness, not just the rainbow bits. In the 8th House, we find topics around catharsis + letting go, your partner’s money, inheritances or the way you interact with resources that don’t initiate with you and from you.

The Ninth House: Higher Education, Philosophy + Religion, Foreign Language + Foreign Travel

Also called the House of the God, the 9th House holds the bigger and broader ideas we have about life and the world. These could be worldviews, religion, philosophy or paradigms we have about truth. It can also describe things like publishing, higher education, long-distance travel and magic ✨

The Tenth House: The Public, Professional + Reputation

While the 4th House was the most private part of the chart, the Tenth is the most visible. It’s at the high noon part of the circle, and it shows us our aspirations, public + professional self, career and even our most notable reputation.

The Eleventh House: Friends, Groups, Alliances + Networks

It takes a village, and here we have the village of our friends — those who see the world we want to live in and want to build it with us. Planets here orient towards community, circles of shared interests and forming alliances around shared ideologies. These are the folks who have your back and want to come to your aid.

The Twelfth House: Loss, Exile + Far Away

We can think of this House as sort of behind the Rising Sign. If someone is standing behind you… it’s a bit hard to see. So the 12th House represents things that can be hard to see. Perhaps these are things of a psychic or spiritual nature. They could also be ways that we undermine ourselves that we aren’t super conscious of. It can also describe experiences of feeling outside of the normal, day-to-day world or long retreats/experiences far away. Planets in this House can be a bit isolated or simply working behind-the-scenes, doing all the (hidden) important things backstage in life. 

Conclusion

You see how this can bring soooooooo much more nuance and perspective when looking at this beautiful star map we call the natal chart. If you haven't already, be sure to download this free guide to teach you how to understand transits through your Houses + what to listen for or look for when tuning into astrological forecasts like the ones we do on the home—body podcast.