Birth Chart Basics: Defining and Locating Houses
Birth Chart Basics: Defining and Locating Houses
the setting planets express themselves
This is the fourth of seven posts teaching you how to interpret your birth chart. Check out the previous post here.
Ok, in full transparency, this is an aspect of astrology where things get a bit convoluted. In an effort to keep things simple, this post will give a basic definition of what houses in astrology are, and help you locate which houses your planets fall into.
The key takeaway is that houses in astrology represent the setting in which planets express themselves.
Last time, I described planets as the “verbs” of astrology, and zodiac signs as “adverbs” to describe planets. Within this analogy, houses become the setting in which your story is being told.
The 12 Houses
In general, houses represent various themes that show up in our lives. Examples include our relationship with ourselves, how we show up in interpersonal relationships, or family. By looking at these themes, we can better understand how we project ourselves into the world around us.
Understanding houses can be a bit nebulous, so below are general definitions for the areas of life each house rules over.
1st House: House of self. This area of your chart rules over the way you interact with the world around you, and how you perceive yourself.
Themes of the 1st house:
How you assert yourself
Your appearance and relationship with your body
2nd House: House of value and possessions. This area of your chart rules over your relationship to money, and feelings toward the things you value.
Themes of the 2nd house:
Your self-worth
Where you access resources and how you may use them
3rd House: House of community and sharing. This house rules over your communication style and relationship with your local community.
Themes of the 3rd house:
How you choose to communicate with others
Your role within your community
4th House: House of family and home. This house rules over your relationship with your family, and what you may need from your environment to feel safe.
Themes of the 4th house:
How you may have grown up
Your role within their family
5th House: House of pleasure and creativity. This house represents where you source pleasure and find outlets for your creativity and personality.
Themes of the 5th house:
How you choose to express yourself
Things you do for fun
6th House: House of health and routines. This house rules over your health needs and areas in which you feel you may need more routine.
Themes of the 6th house:
Health and wellness
How you choose to use your time
7th House: House of partnerships and relationships. This house rules over your one-on-one relationships whether they are platonic, romantic, contractual, or hostile.
Themes of the 7th house:
Interpersonal relationships with other individuals
Contracts and agreements
8th House: House of shared resources, grief, healing. This house rules over the ways in which we may share resources with others, or ways we grieve.
Themes of the 8th house:
Grief, death, healing
Support or lack of support individuals get from others
9th House: House of philosophy and travel. This house rules over the ways in which we make meaning of our life.
Themes of the 9th house:
Travel
Academia, religion, spirituality, education, and philosophy
10th house: House of social status and public image. This house represents how others perceive you, and what you do to be received by others.
Themes of the 10th house:
Career status
Public image and social status
11th house: House of friends and networks. This house represents ways you may find connections with other people
Themes of the 11th house:
How you network with others
Friends and community
12th house: House of the unconscious. This house represents parts of your life you don’t fully understand, parts of your life you choose to keep hidden, or ways you may feel isolated from others.
Themes of the 12th house:
Secrets you keep from others
Where you harbor sorrow
Which Houses Do The Planets Fall In?
Using the chart you drew up in the first post, you can identify which houses your planets fall in.
Identifying Houses In Your Chart
You’ll notice in the example above, the chart is divided into 12 sections. Each section represents one of the 12 houses. Each section is numbered, and follows counter clockwise order.
You’ll also notice various glyphs scattered throughout your chart. Each glyph represents a different planet in your chart.
Glyph Key:
You’ll notice some of the houses, don’t have any glyphs, and this is ok!
In the example above, the 9th, 11th, and 12th houses are all empty.
CHECKPOINT:
Using the Glyph Key, which house is the sun located in?
In the example above, the sun is located in the 3rd house.
Which house is the moon located in?
In the example above, the moon is located in the 8th house.
Which houses are empty?
Applying Planets to Houses
Now that we’ve defined all 12 houses and located which houses planets fall in, you can use the prompts below to apply these definitions to the planets in your chart. This will help you understand how the planets show up in different areas in your life
For example, if you’re a sun in the 3rd house individual, your sentence would read as: My light shines (sun) in situations where I get to build community with others or share information with others (3rd house)
Planetary Prompts
Sun: My light shines…
Moon: I project my feelings…
Mercury: I communicate the most effectively…
Venus: I connect with others…
Mars: I act upon my desires…
Jupiter: I find abundance and luck…
Saturn: I create structure…
The Houses
1st House: in situations where I can assert myself
2nd House: in situations where I can express value through money or my possessions
3rd House: in situations where I get to build community or share information with others
4th House: in situations where I am able to feel safe and reflect on the role of my family in my life.
5th House: in situations where I can be creative and express my personality
6th House: in situations where my health and daily routines are centered
7th House: in situations where I’m able to connect with others one on one
8th House: in situations where I’m able to unpack and make meaning out of intense emotions
9th House: in situations where I’m able to travel or learn about the world in more complex ways
10th House: in situations where my personal reputation is on display
11th House: in situations where I am able to network and connect with others
12th House: in situations where critical self-reflection helps me better understand parts of myself I choose to repress
In the next post, we’ll dive into the relationship planets have with each other <3.
Questions?
Leave a comment and I’ll do my best to help <3.