If you’re like me, you have an interest in all things mystical. I love meditation, compassion, learning about spirituality from different religions, learning about all the ways people have communed with Spirit through the ages.
I’ve always had an interest in astrology. Growing up in Australia, with some of our closest neighbours being in Asia, I was influenced greatly by Chinese horoscopes. The single book on astrology we had in our house was a book of Chinese Astrology. So I grew an appreciation of the twelve animals of the zodiac. Western Astrology didn’t really factor in, other than my general sign (Virgo).
But now that I’m older and have access to the internet and a vast array of information, I can now investigate what I was never able to in the past--Western Astrology.
After reading many, many books on the subject, I’ve basically memorised everything I need to know to interpret a Natal (birth) Chart.
Everything except Houses.
I had no idea how anyone could connect financial investments with death (8th House), or why is the fifth house related to sports and children? And the sixth house? Some astrologers say it’s the house of mentors, others say it’s the house of jobs.
I just didn’t get it.
And as a result, I also couldn’t memorise them, so I was always going back to the cheat sheet one of the astrology texts gave me.
And this was my struggle, how was I supposed to resemble any sort of astrologer if I couldn’t even get the basics memorised?
And then a brilliant teacher came along and really made me think about the houses and what they mean. He made me collate all the information I’ve been gathering over the last year and a half, and do my own analysis of it so I could see the connections.
And this is what I’ve discovered:
Pretty much every astrologer says Houses and Signs are similar and (almost) interchangeable.
What they really mean is that the Houses are based on the signs. So the first house is like the first sign (Aries). Aries is a fire sign, so it bursts onto the scene, crying, “Here I am! This is me and I’m here to stay!”
And the first house is all about how you present yourself to the world.
The second house is Taurus, ruled by Venus and is an earth sign. What does earth represent to you?
To me, it represents groundedness, money, fertility.
What does Venus represent to you?
To me, it represents relationships and values.
So, putting these two together, you get material stuff, like money and possessions, and how you relate to all of these.
The third house is Gemini, ruled by Mercury. What does Mercury represent?
To me, it’s everything to do with the mind and intellect.
THe third house is Air, so this has to do with communication and a hungry mind. So I see this house as the house of communication and learning.
You see how easy it is when someone explains it this way? It helps you form connections that weren’t easily seen before.
This is turning into a long post, so I’ll take a break here and talk about what you can do to solidify these meanings in your mind, then get back to how I interpret each house.
So what you can do is pull up a chart with the houses and signs in the right place (I literally googled, “house and sign astrology picture” and that got me to the right image), you can tell the signs are in the right place if Aries is in the first house.
Then ask yourself these questions:
What sign is the ruler of this house?
What does this sign mean to me?
What element rules this house and what does that element mean to me?
What planet rules this house and what does that planet mean to me?
What mode (Cardinal, Fixed, Mutable) rules this house and what does that mean to me?
Write down all of your answers to each of the questions, then look at your work. Can you pull all that information together to form a complete picture of what that house represents?
I’ll continue now with my own interpretations.
Fourth House is Cancer and is ruled by the Moon. Cancer is all about home and family, therefore this house represents Home and Family.
The fifth house is Leo, ruled by the SUn. Leo is all about creativity, sharing it’s marvellous self with the world, shining wherever it is in the world. So this house involves all things creative, including children and theatre and games and sports.
THe sixth house is Virgo, ruled by Mercury and is an Earth energy. Earth = practicality, Virgo = service, Mercury = mind. All up, this results in practical effort (working for the monies) and finding (or being a) mentor. Jobs and teachers.
The seventh house is LIbra, ruled by Venus. Again, Venus is relationships. LIbra is about partnerships and balance. Therefore, it’s the house of marriage and friendships!
THe eighth house (yes, I griped about this earlier in the blog, but now you can understand how I was able to truly understand this house), is ruled by Scorpio, Pluto and in ancient times Mars, it’s element is water.
Pluto = underworld, Water = consciousness, Mars = war, drive, passion.
Think of a stereotypical organised crime gang. What do they want? MOney. What will they do to get it? Set up “legit” businesses. What could result from underhanded practices? Death.
So it’s the house of Money, Business and Death (of you and friends).
(Please note, I’m not suggesting that Scorpios are gang members. This analogy is based pretty much exclusively on Pluto and what it represents.)
The ninth house is ruled by Sagittarius and Jupiter. And what does Jupiter like to do? Expand all the things! Expand your mind through philosophy. Expand your experiences through travel, etc. So it’s the house of Philosophy and Travel.
The tenth house is ruled by Capricorn, Saturn and is an earth element. So, once again, we have all things to do with material stuff and practicality. Saturn, the planet of structure, shapes how you go about accessing (or earning) that material stuff, like your job or your role in life.
THe eleventh house is ruled by Aquarius and Air. So you’re an Aquarius looking to do what’s natural to you (socialise), where do you go to find like minded people you can have fun with? The answer is your social groups and community.
The twelfth house is a fascinating house (to me, at least). It’s ruled by Pisces, Pluto, Jupiter and Water. So we’ve got the planets of the underworld and expansion, and the element of consciousness. To me this is like the hero’s journey, diving deep into the abyss and returning with a gift to share. Or like the Dark Night of the Soul, you’re dealing with some heavy stuff, but ultimately, you come out a better person and can share your learnings with others. It represents delving into the underworld and bringing back what you learn in service to others. So it’s the house of consciousness and service to community.
Wow, what a long blog post! Haha, when I first started writing this, I didn’t expect it to become an essay!
Anyway, I hope this gives you as much clarity around the houses as it did for me!
Happy astrologising!