Houses

The houses are twelve 30 degree sections of the chart that show where a particular sign or planetary influence will be felt for an individual. A brief list of keywords for each house is included below to help you remember, but the most important houses to a person are 1, 7, 4 and 10, also known as the Angular houses, which correspond to the Cardinal signs. They represent you (1) and a partner (2) building a shared future (10) and home (4). The other 8 houses represent how we interact with the world and how the world interacts with us.

Houses 2, 5, 8 and 11 are Succedent houses, which correspond to the fixed signs and represent what should be stable in our lives to help us achieve our Cardinal goals: income (2), love (5), sex drive (8) and friendship (11). Houses 3, 6, 9, and 12 are called Cadent houses and correspond to the mutable signs. These represent the aspects of life that can change in order to achieve our goals: education (3), work/service (6), philosophy (9), and psychology (12).

One of the things I studied with my teacher is the Archetype, sort of the ideal expression of planets and signs through the houses. For example, you should acquire possessions and build your income (2nd house) slowly and steadily so there is permanence (Taurus), or your philosophy (9th house) should be shaped by getting out and exploring the world with optimism and enthusiasm (Sagittarius). Each individual chart is a variation of the Archetype and you can see how the different combinations work for or against this ideal.

Another interesting thing is house derivations. It’s probably better discussed in a future blog post, but it’s a way to see the chart of another you’re close to in your own. For example, how to see your child’s, father-in-law’s or boss’s chart within your own. It also explains some of the less intuitive meanings of a house, such as why the 8th house represents inheritances. It’s the 2nd house (possessions/income) of the 7th (partner/others).