the 12 houses
Awareness brings change. Through examining the house placements in our charts, we not only are given clues as to the best way to meet life in that area, but we also gain insight into the underlying archetypal expectations operating within us.
Howard Sasportas
Your chart is divided into 12 pie slices, each representing a specific area or theme of life. We'll use the houses as a guide to understand different components of life and how they interact. You'll notice that a lot of the house themes can easily overlap, so I don't use them as the focusing lens, but more as the organizing backdrop of our lives.
**If you’re new to your chart, I highly suggest generating a copy of your chart using the WHOLE SIGN HOUSE SYSTEM. My current favorite resource is Astrograph.com. Or you can download their app, TimePassages.
When we know the houses or the ways our “areas of life” are divided up, we not only see where the focus is in our lives, we see where the energy is currently, assisting us in keeping an eye out for clues from the universe.
Based on each new moon, full moon, eclipse season, planetary transit into different signs, now you have the map for the ways that each of these astrological and astronomical events are communicating with you. Which is freaking awesome!!
No matter what sign your rising sign is, the 1st house is always at the left/center of the circle, and we progress through the houses in a counter clockwise direction - see the grey arrow. The sign for each house will be placed where I've put the numbers. Look at that part of your chart for the sign on each house border or cusp.
If you’d like to explore your houses + chart further and co-create with the universe with every sign season, join me in Cosmic Alignment - a monthly astrology membership filled with all kinds of awesomeness!
The First House
The first house is your physical package - body, appearance, style, persona and how you express yourself. It's a container for your physical constitution, and an extension of your approach to life. How do you want to physically express who you are in your clothing, hair, body, appearance, speech and general personality? How have you noticed this shifting over life? What's your rising sign and your version of expressing of that sign? Something interesting to consider is other's first impression of you... What have you heard consistently? How do you want to be perceived?
The Second House
After defining who we are, we enter the second house of your "stuff" - physical resources or personal assets like talents and abilities. We look at what we value here and how we value ourselves. What do you feel you have to offer (self-worth)? What would you like in order to feel material security? What talents or abilities would add to your sense of self? With an emphasis on finances and assets, this area of life can show the way you like to earn and spend money and give us inspiration for how we tune into our own magical flow.
The Third House
After the exploration of what "I have", the third house is about information and communication - how do you take in information? What do you want to learn? How do you like to learn? How do you naturally communicate? What do you wish to communicate about? This is the "empirical data" and "exchange of thoughts" area of life. What do you wish to read? What are you curious about? Observe all forms of communication/information in this house - writing, teaching, learning, letters, phone calls, contracts, paperwork, storytelling, technology.
The Fourth House
At the base of the chart, the fourth house often has to do with concerns of the soul and connection. This generally tends to be a more private part of life and not as visible to others. The fourth house relates to family, home and personal foundations. What are the wishes of your soul, regardless of what the outside world is doing (or expecting)? What is your family history? What do you want your future family history to be? What do you want in order to feel safe and connected? This is the part of the chart that you can look to when you want to feel rooted and build a sense of inner foundations.
The Fifth House
Beyond the safety and privacy of the family/home, the fifth house is the party/fun times house in the chart. This is where we go to let our hair down, have fun and feel good. What brings you a sense of joy or pleasure? Sports, gambling, games, hobbies, romantic hook ups? BDSM? Macrame? There's a creative aspect to this house - we include any creative projects and playful activities here. And of course, a big creative act is children! Sexuality and romance can be big factors here as well. What connects all of these different things is joy, pleasure and fun - purely for the sake of enjoying it.
The Sixth House
After discovering the joys and pleasures of life, the sixth house is where we get into the nitty gritty of everyday life. I like to look at this house as a microcosm of your life - how do you support the life that you want or are creating every day? What daily routines/rituals or schedules do you want in place? What about at work? What kind of daily work do you want to do? How connected do you feel to your body? How busy or productive do you like to be? Who do you want to interact with? This is the area of life where we take care of business to maintain life. What would your ideal day look like?
The Seventh House
The seventh house is where we meet others in one on one relationships. Think any significant one on one relationship - business, romantic and even enemies. (Love and hate are two sides of the same coin!) This is the part of the chart that shows us our reflection in others - how do you want to relate to others? What are your relationship patterns? How do you prefer to give and take? What's your desired commitment style? What would your ideal relationships look like? Relationships are an avenue for self-discovery in the 7th house.
The Eighth House
We enter the eighth house, one of the more mysterious and intangible areas of life. To make it simple, we can look at all eighth house topics as avenues to personal transformation. True intimacy (including intimate sexual experiences) and sharing resources is no easy feat! Therapy is how we get intimate with ourselves and our secrets and through these unexplainable processes - we transform. We look at what we share with others, and how we integrate what other people value into our lives. The eighth house is also a financial house, so we can find matters of taxes, inheritance and working with shared resources - other people's money!
The Ninth House
After the transformation of the eighth house, we broaden our horizons through exploration and expansion. In this house, we expand through knowledge, wisdom, traveling to foreign cultures and places. We think about ethics, ideals, philosophies - justice. What are the laws of the universe? What adventures do I wish to go on? What do I want to learn, embody and understand? We enter higher knowledge, intuition, spirituality and embrace insight. If you have something you're writing or message you wish to share (via publishing or the internet), this is where you share it with a larger audience. We expand into meaning and the bigger picture of life.
The Tenth House
At the top of the chart, the tenth house is where we are most visible to the world. While many associate this area of life with your job, that's not the purpose of this house. What do you feel is your calling in life? (That can be different from your job). Who do you want to be in the public realm? As a partner? As a parent? What do you desire for social status or achievement out there in the world? Because this house is at the top of the chart, we can consider our own goals when it comes to achievement, public identity, fame and honor. What do you wish to be known for? Who do you want to be out there in the world?
The Eleventh House
We expand beyond personal reputation and success and enter the eleventh house of goals, hopes and connections. There's an element of humanitarian causes or larger hopes for the collective in the eleventh house. What common values or interests do you want to connect with others on? What is your larger circle of community with similar points of view or mindsets? What are your big picture goals for life? Who do you want to connect to based on these goals or causes? We see the power of cooperation, community, and joining forces with like minded others to create bigger waves of change and meaning.
The Twelfth House
After the eleventh house, we retire into the hidden and unexplainable twelfth house. One of the easiest ways to understand this house is in its direct opposition to the sixth house of daily life and busyness. The twelfth house is where we rest, we meditate and take time out of our schedules to contemplate. Think of this area as where you maintain your soul and spirit - how do you connect or recharge? What gives you a feeling of transcendence or connection? In this area of life, we let go of the linear ways of the world, and we drop into daydreams, spirituality and intuition.
Where do you have most of your planets and action? What area of life is the current sign season highlighting for you?
Make sure to check out the signs and planets to get all of the magical intel on your chart! And to dork out some more, join me in Cosmic Alignment!