What do the houses mean in astrology?
Dating back to Babylonian times, and still today, astrologers categorize all the many aspects of life into 12 parts. Each of these, called houses, represent separate areas and specific functions of your life. There are houses about domestic life, personal wealth, career, relationships, and more.
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The Houses
1st House: Self & Identity
The first house is the most personal house in a natal chart because it represents you- your character, personality, style, and disposition. The first house sits on an important angle, called the Ascendant. The Ascendant, also known as the Rising Sign, in a chart is the lense between the individual and the world. This is the thin veil between our individuality vs. our outward appearance or how we see the world vs. how we are seen by the world.
Keywords for the 1st House in Astrology: Physical body, personality, style, personal identity, instincts, self awareness, independence
2nd House: Money & Security
The second house relates to physical wealth or value. These are things that you accumulate throughout life that are tangible and also shows what you value. For example, you may value quality vs. someone else may value quantity.
Keywords for the 2nd House in Astrology: Money, values, personal assets, resources, possessions, self-worth
3rd House: Communication & Thought
The third house represents your immediate environment which can be expanded into a few directions: self-expression/thoughts, your immediate family, and your daily commute. The third house is closely tied to the individual, where it rules short travel (not international travel) and siblings/neighbors (not strangers).
Keywords for the 3rd House in Astrology: Style of thinking, school (pre-college), siblings, mind, sales, neighbors, short trips, writing, teaching, reading
4th House: Home, Family, & Emotion
The fourth house is all about home life, both our literal homes (family/house) and our figurative homes (ancestral/emotional ties). The 4th house is an angle house of the Nadir, or also called the I.C. The IC is a point on the wheel that represents our private life and where we come from. This house is the bridge between our personal-private self (internalized self) and the public-private self (immediate family).
Keywords for the 4th House in Astrology: Home, family, gut instincts, nurturing parent, early childhood
5th House: Creativity & Entertainment
The fifth house relates to activities that you do for pleasure or to express yourself creatively. This house rules your creative talents, but also you ability to enjoy fully in those areas of life. Also ruled by the fifth house are children and playfulness.
Keywords for the 5th House in Astrology: Creativity, romance, sex, sports, kids, fun, gambling, pleasure, inner child
6th House: Work Environment & Health
The sixth house is about service to others, and how you choose to be of use to the world. Included in this house is your work environments, relation to co-workers and employees, and your health routines. Ruled by Virgo, this house has a keen eye for natural order and health.
Keywords for the 6th House in Astrology: Job/work, co-workers, routines, service, pets, duty, tasks, health, order
7th House: Marriage & Partnership
The seventh house is opposite house of the first and also the angular house between the self and other hemispheres. The seventh house is about your committed relationships (non-family members) to marriage, business, or any contractual agreements. Conversely, this house also includes open enemies of which both sides have "agreed" to dislike the other. ASTROLOGY TIP Take into consideration the opposite houses, it helps to give balance throughout the wheel and cuts the learning time in half!
Keywords for the 7th House in Astrology: Relationships, marriage, equality, cooperation, agreements, teamwork, awareness of the identity of others, desire to share close one-to-one interactions
8th House: Death & Transformation
Keywords for the 8th House in Astrology: Bonded partnerships, others assets, secrets, business, contracts, death, inheritance, debt, transformation
9th House: Higher Knowledge & Exploration
Keywords for the 9th House in Astrology: Foreign travel, philosophy, adventure, freedom, religion/beliefs, law, higher education, publishing, intuition
10th House: Career & Reputation
Keywords for the 10th House in Astrology: Career, reputation, fame, profession, authority, adulthood, responsibility, maturity, goals, ambitions
11th House: Friends & Aspirations
Keywords for the 11th House in Astrology: Humanitarian goals, friends, groups, future, angels, aspirations, the larger picture, science, inventions
12th House: Spirituality & Compassion
Keywords for the 12th House in Astrology: The cosmos, psychic sensitivity, subtle forces, spirituality, hidden understandings, mystical, musical
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