What's the Meaning of The 12 Houses in your Birth Chart?
What are Houses in Astrology?
If you ever looked up your Birth/Natal Chart you probably wondered why it’s structured the way it is. To save you an entire lecture, it’s basically a representation of the sky at the day, time and location of birth. A Birth Chart is divided into Houses and Signs. Each of these Signs have general meanings, and based off of which Planet is located in these Signs; these Planets have specific meanings. Just like the Signs, the Houses also have general meanings and when a Planet is positioned in a House it provides us with a deeper understanding. The Houses tell us what will happen in each part of our lives. Each of the Houses rule over a part of our live, e.g. relationships, money and communication. The Second House rules over our material Possessions, so when a Planet was in the Second House when we were born, we’ll get a clearer picture of what is ahead. In this article we’ll dive into the meaning of each the 12 Houses.
What we’ll talk about:
- The meaning of each of the Houses
- What the Houses rule
- The key elements of the 12 Houses
Zodiac Signs vs Houses
The Zodiac Signs tell us about your Personality and the Houses tell us about what will happen in the different stages of your life.
1st House
The 1st House is the House of self, it governs everything that makes you, which is why it’s considered the most influential and powerful. We have our first interaction with the 1st House at birth, from here on forwards we’ll be shaped into the people we want to be. Every trait and manner you learn from young, is also used as you get older. This is why the 1st House is considered the most important House, for us to live our lives we need to be able to adapt not only to the world but, to society as well. The 1st House gives us a sense of direction throughout our lives, for example: if from young on you’ve been exposed to piano lessons, as you get older you start to play the piano. As you get older and have more exposure to playing the piano, it will eventually become a part of you, that is very hard to ignore or miss. This is how we form our identity and personality, and the 1st House has a significant role to play. We create ideal versions of ourselves and try to realize the final appearance. Not only do we create emotional standards for ourselves, we also create the ideal image for our self. Based off of our interests we choose to dress a certain way of even act a certain way. These material indicators are a direct extension of our personalities, our self. This is why the 1st House is also called the House of self-interest, everything we do, we do because we like it. And the way we dress or the decor in our home, is a representation of our self. We care about how the world perceives us, which is why we want the world to see us for who we are. If you want to be seen as athletic you’re more likely to dress in casual athletic wear, this is your way of displaying your inner-self and self-interests.
2nd House
The 2nd House is the House of Money & Possessions, this gives you pointers about your income and future financial situation. The 2nd House tells you about the way you think of money. Some might not consider material possessions the most important things to have, while others tend to work towards owning a lot of material goods. The 2nd House governs our finances, money and possessions, in both tangible and intangible ways. The intangible ways are described in everything we possess, we possess talent, knowledge and skills. This is why the 2nd House is important, when we try to discover our true self. Before we can start new beginnings and work towards bettering ourselves, we need to know what we already possess and if that’s worth giving up. It may show you the road towards using your possessions (talent, skills, money etc.) to better your own life or the life of others. The 2nd House could also be used to gain insight into our ability to generate an income and better our financial situation.
3rd House
The 3rd House is the House of Communication, it rules over your early education, relationships with close relatives like siblings and the way you interact with the world. The 3rd House governs over your ability to learn quickly, to think rationally and to communicate. The first impact of the 3rd House starts from early childhood, the way we learn to express ourselves and our ability to communicate with others. This ability to communicate is important for us, when it comes to forming and maintaining relationships with those around us. This is where the relationship with close relatives is influenced by the 3rd House, we have a certain way of communicating with them, that brings us closer. The 3rd House also influences your ability to interact with other variables in our environment, our ability to explore this environment to appreciate or adapt to it, is present here. The way we adapt to the environment includes forming new relationships, to work together on something or to litter less because, you know it harms nature. Both of these examples require a good ability to communicate, an ability to talk and approach people and an ability to understand the consequences of our actions.
4th House
The 4th House is the House of Home, it rules over our concept of Home. Our home in our past, present and future can be traced back to the 4th House. From early in our life we’re brought into a home, where we grow up, this place will have a lasting impact on our future home. We’ll seek to create the same or an even better home for ourself in the future and as we grow elder, one where we can live our last days in peace. A home is not only the roof over our head, the 4th House goes deeper to define a home as a place where we belong. In our home we can retreat and reenergize to gain enough energy to face the world. A home is where we feel safe and can truly let our inner-self show; we find the center of gravity that draws us constantly. As we get older we seek a home in which we can not only find our true self, but also a home in which we can live securely and peacefully. As seniors we become more fragile and sensitive to loud energies, a place where we can shun this out is what we seek.
5th House
The 5th House is the House of Creativity and Sex, it rules over our sexuality, the way we express our sexuality and the way we express our thoughts. The 5th House also governs over children, children give ultimate emotional joy and create a legacy for us. The way we interact and go about sex, is strongly influenced by the 5th House. Our new lovers, our past lovers as well as our current relationship status, all find it’s way back to this House. The coherence between sex and creativity is expressed in the way we want to appear to potential lovers to attract them. We alter our outside appearance such as: clothing, jewelry and makeup to represent the best version of ourselves. To come to this ideal picture, we had to be creative with our real attributes. The 5th House covers more creativity such as our music taste, our taste in art and food palette. All of this is a irremovable part of us, that we want to introduce to our lovers in hope of finding mutual enjoyments. As you grow more closer you start to do the things both of you love together.
6th House
The 6th House is the House of Service and Health, it rules over our ability to work with others and the state of our health. The 6th House governs our ability to thrive in a work environment, how it is that we go about treating our subordinates as well as our employer. Not only our job is governed by the 6th House, but our willingness to complete chores and simple tasks, is also housed here. The connection between us and our colleagues needs to be good, if we want to succeed at doing our jobs correctly and be liked by our community. This brings us to our ability to serve the community without expecting something in return. The volunteer work we do or the donations we give to charitable organizations are all influenced by the 6th House. We find pleasure in helping those around is; we like serving our community. This House also governs our health, our physical and mental exercise to maintain our wellbeing are all impacted by the 6th House.
7th House
The 7th House is the House of Partnership and Marriage, it rules over our marriage, professional partnerships and the way we interact with people who pursue the things we pursue. In the 7th House we try to attract the person that completes us, the person who can fill our gaps. This united picture of two people who complete each other, is finalized by marriage. The 7th House affects our marriage, or our divorce as well as the kind of the marriage we have. In the 7th House, our partnerships are stationed, these partnerships go beyond romantic bonds, towards legal partnerships as well as politics. Just as our spouse completes us in our marriage, for better opportunities whether they are work-related or just our personal goals, we need to form partnerships. The partners are supposed to help us achieve goals, we could not reach on our own. For these goals to be reached and partnerships to be formed, we have to know where the missing peace is not only in ourselves, but in others as well. This is why the 7th House is opposite the 1st House: we’re not focused on our self but, on how we can be better by integrating with others.
8th House
The 8th House is the House of Death and Regeneration, it governs over new beginnings and bad periods of our lives. The 8th House is concerned with our spiritual transformations with respect to sex, death and the afterlife. It is concerned with what we take from a previous life into our current life and the legacy we leave behind. The 8th House is also concerned with shared possessions, we might share our knowledge or money with our spouse. This makes the 8th House also the breeding ground for mistreatment, betrayal or financial obligation. All of this leads to a deeper and darker side of the relationships we have, the so called “red flags”, these might concern misuse or abuse between partners. This also explains why the 8th House comes after the 7th House of relationships. After these hard times, the 8th House gives perspective by also being the starting point for transformation. Our ability to make changes to our lives and improve it for the better, is the work of the 8th House. This is also why surgery is a part of this House, it gives someone a new beginning.
9th House
The 9th House is the House of Mental Exploration and Long Distance Travel, it governs our quest for more knowledge about ourself and the world around us. The 9th House is considered to be an extension of the 3rd House, this is where our need for a better understanding is widened. We seek to find out more about ourselves through spirituality and mental stimulation (meditation). This includes the mental exploration aspect of the 9th House, we can find out more about ourselves and what makes us, who we are. To further our knowledge of how the world works we might turn to higher education, travel and philosophy. We want to expand our horizons and open ourself up to new cultures and experiences. This is done with the hope of discovering new interests we might have or to satisfy our curiosity. Humans have a constant need for more knowledge, there is so much we don’t understand about the world and the universe. This quest needs to be satisfied which is why we explore.
10th House
The 10th House is the House of Career and Public Standing, it governs our achievements, our success and public image. The 10th House is positioned opposite the the 4th House, the 4th House rules the home. This addressed in the way we find our home, our sanctuary. The 10th House is more concerned with what the public thinks of us, how does the public react to our success? The 10th House rules our status, professional success and our image. The public can only hold us in high regard, if we actively work on progressing in our careers or involvement in our community. To gain this public appraisal we need to be assertive and natural leaders, this can be traced back to how exposed we were to leadership in our childhood. Only if we show strong character and a good sheet of achievements, can people be proud of us. The 10th House rules over our public image; it influences our material success.
11th House
The 11th House is the House of Friends, Hopes, Communal standing and Wishes, it governs over to what extent we are willing to work together to reach mutual goals. In the 11th House, we put aside our goals of fulfilling our own pleasures, this happens in the 5th House. The goal of the 11th House is finding the best way to work together with a community of people, whether they are colleagues, friends or even neighbors. How well can you put aside personal wishes and glory for the long-term enjoyment of others, is influenced by the 11th House. We have a need within us, even if it may seem small, to be apart of a group or collective. We can’t be left to our own devices to figure everything out, that’s why we form alliances and partnerships. When these are formed, the individuals need to work together, to reach the initial goal, on which basis the group was formed. In such a situation one must put aside his own goals and sense for glory, to better achieve the group’s goals.
12th House
The 12th House is the House of Secrets, Sorrow and Self-Undoing, it governs over our Karma, which is why it’s also called the House of Karma. As we reach the last stage of life, we become more aware of the purpose of life. We trade a short period on earth in, for a eternal utopia. The 12th House is concerned with prisons. disappointments, troubles and accidents. It rules over the things we cannot see with the naked eye and gives us a moment to reflect, this is why this House, is the house of Self-Undoing.