House meanings in astrology part I, including a long explanation of the role of the ascendant
After posting my piece on *not* associating houses with signs, I think it’s only fitting to make a proper post on house meanings. Because, apparently, you can never have enough of astrology 101.
1ST HOUSE: the self, physical body and appearance, character
It’s how we present ourselves into the world & the lens which we look at it; how we approach things. It’s the most immediate & visible part of our chart. Anything touching our 1st house (whether it’s a natal placement or transit), has a direct influence on us. One of the problems of some astrology sources is that they state that our ascendant is the mask we put on as if it was something that’s fake about us or only showing when someone doesn’t know us well. That’s not the case. Tell me Sagittarius risings only seem to be funny storytellers or Gemini risings only faking that they’re witty & full of restless energy or ever-changing ideas. Or that Taurus risings only pretend that they seek stability. No, the ascendant very much describes one’s personality traits.
1st house also represents our physical body. It’s our energy levels + combined with the state of 1st house ruler, it can partially show the nature of our health and our weak spots. Look-wise, it’s important to know that no one looks 100% just like their rising sign. It’s always a mix of the chart’s influence but there are certain characteristics that may be present in one’s appearance. That includes the way we carry ourselves; it’s our mannerisms & body language. And the way we interact with people, especially those we don’t know well yet. Like fire risings tend to be more expressive and their lively spirit takes up more space, so to speak; they usually fill up the room. Earth risings seem to be very grounded, composed and with a calm disposition, good listeners. Water risings have the tendency be more withdrawn and may blend in with their surroundings or be more sensitive to what is going on around them. Then air risings may seem like the friendly cool cats of the company while being more impersonal in their approach.
I said the 1st is how we present ourselves - but it’s not necessary about our looks. Remember, your ascendant line and 1st house is literally the beginning of your chart; it sets the rest of your houses. This means whatever happens to you throughout your life is going to have that ascendant’s sign tint to it. It’s like the theme color of your life’s path. So, as an example, a Scorpio rising may be a bubbly, colourful person (a complete opposite of the stereotype), but their life might be full of deeply transformative or even shocking, sudden (just like the ruler, Mars) events; they may posess a scorpionic persistence and sensitivity that they carry in everything they do.
Something that’s not often talked about is that the 1st also relates to our mind. It’s different than the 12th where our subconscious lays & different than the 3rd, which is our direct communication and intake of information (more on that later). That’s why it very much portrays layers of our full personality and our attitude towards the surroundings.
I want to touch on few of the things here. One being, the 1st house is important in grasping the nature of other houses by their mutual correspondence. It’s important to understand the core technical basics of astrology (something people tend to skip, which is a big mistake) in order to fully get the idea of how and why. I will probably be mentioning this while I explain each house, but let’s quickly take an example of the 12th house. Why is it the malefic, “untangible” house? People would say because it’s ruled by Neptune so it’s foggy and blah blah. But forget about this for a second and think of the structure of the chart itself. Remember, astrology is all about the geomery - even the planet-sign associations were originally based on geometry, not on archetypical meanings. So. 12th house cannot be seen from the perspective of the 1st (just like the 2nd, 6th and 8th) - aka it doesn’t make any major aspect from the ascendant (so-called aversion but keep in mind this method is mainly used in a whole sign system). It is literally behind our back.
Another thing I wanted to mention is having planets in the 1st house. They color our ascendant, yes. But it’s important to notice that sometimes it can be a lot to, for example, have a stellium in the 1st. I’ve said the 12th house is behind our back. Well imagine then having all those planets on your back - it can be overwhleming, it can be burdensome; it means taking all that junk on yourself - what junk it is, depends on the nature of the planets and what houses do these planets rule. Let’s say you have your MC ruler in the 1st - that can be potentially good, because it may suggest that you’re just known for being you. But this also can mean your carreer is very much tied to your persona or even physical body - so those two can affect each other, for better of worse. Having 7th house ruler in the 1st can mean you’re basing your own worth on the relationships you’re in. All that means people with 1st house planets tend to be very sensitive and take things very personally. On top of that, it can also indicate having health issues - because these planets sit, well, physically on your body. This of course depends on the nature of the planet(s) - are they benefics or malefics, or neutral (Mercury); what’s their dignity; again, what houses they rule.
The placement of your ascendant ruler is one of the most important things in the chart. Something that have stuck with me was Austin Coppock saying how your ascendant is the ship and the ascendant ruler is the steersman. The state of the chart ruler can tell you where and how you put your energy. It can tell you about the state of your body and self; whether you’re going to have it easy in life or not; sometimes even your life’s circumstances; what you need in life; what you’re driven by and what affects you. No matter the planet that is your ascendant ruler (again, I would advice looking at classic rulership in the first place), everything that touches it, is going to directly infuence you. It can be by natal aspect, transit or even synastry aspect - having someone’s planets on your ascendant ruler is like a backup for having them on your ascendant/in the 1st house. Transits can affect you physically, even if that planet’s Saturn or Mercury or whatever.
2ND HOUSE: our posessions, money, things material, everything we own physically, what we find valuable
I see the 2nd house as one of the most straightforward houses (also the most boring one but that’s just me being the least materialistic person you’ll know). Now, people say it’s the house of money - because that’s the world we live in & everyone is chasing that check. But it’s also the things that we find valuable in general - yes, the material ones, because values as in beliefs are a 9th house matter. So it’s everything we own - money, clothes, collectibles, your car, you name it. It shows how we earn and handle money & what’s our attitude towards the material things. It’s also food because that’s something you need to first own in order to consume. All these attributes indicate the state of our self-worth & self-esteem, because, again, we live in a world where you’re nothing without material goods.
This is the first succendent house - it serves to support the 1st house. Just like the 12th house, it aspects the 1st with a semi-sextile (which means it doesn’t make a major aspect), which indicates that it’s one of the malefic houses, although it’s important to note that it’s seen as the least bad of them (because it aspects the 10th with a trine, which helps things out; this also connects money matters with carreer matters). Let’s say then that it’s somewhat a neutral house.
3RD HOUSE: communication, primary education, siblings, all day-to-day things, short-distance travel, our immediate surroundings
It’s all day-to-day things & everything we do on a regular basis. It’s basically our routines. Things like running errands, having our post delivered by the postman, picking up our favourite newspaper (like, I know no one does that anymore but still) or, alternatively, getting that newsletter every week; checking on your favourite websites every morning. Even though it’s the 11th house that rules internet and social groups, in some ways, the 3rd backs up the aspect of communicating through social media (but not belonging to social media groups). The repeatedness and familiarity of the 3rd also ties to our immediate surroundings. So it’s our neighbourhood & neighbours; it’s also things like running errands; short-distance travel & day-to-day travel that you’re doing routinely (like to school or work). It can also show you in what environment you live.
3rd says about our siblings and cousins. It can be literal, if you have Pisces in your 3rd house, your siblings or cousins can have heavy Pisces energy. But it also talks about your relationship with them. It also shows what was your experience in primary school & your school life: how were you perceived; were you popular or picked on; were you top of the class etc. Also, how is your intake of information like; did you like to study, was there any obstacles during your education. It’s because the 3rd shows how we process things mentally; what’s in our head; our ideas & communication style.
It’s the first cadent house, closing the first quadrant of the chart. It serves to help us analyze the things that happened in the succedent 2nd house and prepares us to move to the second quadrant. The energy of the 3rd house is very flowing as it aspect the ascendant with a sextile and the descendant with a trine - so the communication aspect really connects the person (1st) with the people (7th house).
4TH HOUSE: family, parents, roots, home, the most private part of the chart
It’s the second angular house, so it’s one of the four most sensitive parts of the chart but it’s also the most hidden. It shows our family matters and roots. People these days usually connect it to the mother specifically but it actually used to be the father (and mother being in the 10th). I personally always leaned more towards it being connected to the father (maybe because usually he’s seen as the head of the family); it’s just every time I see, for example, a malefic planet in the 4th, there’s always something about the father figure being off or troublesome in the person’s life, not the mother. But, I mean, to each their own. But it does represent family and parents especially in general. For example, having Jupiter in the 4th can mean having a big family or, alternatively, having foreign roots.
3rd was the environment and neighbourhood we live in, 4th can literally represent our home. How it looks, the conditions we live in, our perception of comfort & how we achieve it in our home. Continuing with the Jupiter example, if you’d to move a few times in your life, each next house you live in can be bigger and bigger.
4th is also our private life; things we may not want to show to the public (as opposed to the MC and the 10th house); things close to our heart & things that bring us comfort or things that we grew up on.
Now, with quadrant house systems, your IC-MC line will always represent the beginning of 4th and 10th houses. Using whole sign or sometimes equal, those two angles can actually fall in different houses. This is actually pretty significant and can give you an additional information: so think about it like transfering the IC matters into a different house. So for example, having IC in the 3rd house underlines its importance. Maybe your home/family situation wasn’t fitting for you (for many different reasons) so it was your neighbourhood that raised you, maybe you really soaked up its influence rather than your family’s. Or maybe your siblings had a major influence on you & it’s them that raised you. On the other hand, if your IC falls into the 5th, you could live in your own little creative bubble as a kid & it’s what brings you ease and comfort.
5TH HOUSE: children, creativity, romance & sex, fun and pleasure
I’ve described this in my infamous (lol) post on houses, house rulerships & how ya’ll should stop associating them with signs + a rant on the meaning of the 8th house, but I’m going to do this one more time. Here’s how it goes. Children are represented by the 5th house because it’s about procreation. So you literally create kids - that’s why it’s about creativity overall. And that is why it’s also about sex and pleasure. I’m really not diggin the idea of 8th being associated with sex “because it comes after the 7th house union of two people and that’s the right order”. No it’s not.
So yes, for those asking why topics associated with the 5th are so random: they’re not, they make a lot of sense actually. It’s just the house of FUN, all these things are FUN (well maybe except for when you have Mars in the 5th and you actually don’t like kids and are too impatient for them… or, alternatively, with either of the malefics, had issues getting pregnant/carrying a pregnancy so you have some mental scars from it. Then yea, not fun).
You can also look at the 5th house (along with the state of its ruler and your Moon) to see how fertile you are. Or how your pregnancy is going to be. But that’s a topic in itself. Obviously what your attitude towards children is and how your potential kid is going to be like (some say the 5th only talks about your first-born tho; then it’s the 7th, 9th etc; also adopted children are said to be represented by your 11th house).
It’s the house of romance, sex and all things nice. Literally with the traditional joy scheme, it’s the Venus that rejoices in here. It’s the house of creativity. Now, I’ve noticed people who have a planet or even a stellium in the 5th house aren’t necessary artistic nor they are masters of creative thinking (unfortunately saw examples of that). Let’s remember if that’s the case, it’s their kids that can have artistic and creative abilities. It happens that people with Sun or Moon in the 5th may a bit obsessively see their kid(s) as the light of their life, focusing their whole attention to them. Add the creative aspect to that, you know those parents that are pushing their children to attend as many art/music classes as possible just because? Mhm. And if it’s not their own kids that they pay all their attention to, then they may somehow work with children.
Besides that, 5th house people may like partying, gambling, pleasures in general. Sometimes the 5th also stands for entrepreneurship.
6TH HOUSE: health, service, work, employees, pets
Ahh, the first problematic house. You overwork yourself, get sick and then you die. Lol jk.
Now it’s not as bad, the 6th is configured with a trine to the 10th house, that’s why it’s partially connected to work matters. The difference is, you may work somewhere but you’re not going to make a career out of it. That’s why it also talks about service work - your job may not be the “prettiest” or most rewarding in the context of feeling on top of the world, but it’s kind of like “someone’s gotta do it”.
Now let’s say your 10th house looks good and you do make a career, then the 6th shows your employees. It’s because it’s the house that’s below the 7th, it’s moving away from it. So if the 7th is your partnerships and people that are on equal terms with you, then the 6th are people that are literally below you in some sense: your employees, your staff, the gardener that takes care of your plants, that person who cleans your house once a week or the babysitter that’s taking care of your kids.
6th rules physical health (mental health is linked with 12th), injuries and accidents. So whatever planets sit in there and whatever sign occupies it, can point to possible problems. As always, look at the ruler of the house as well. But not to be all grim, 6th does talk about you taking care of your body through physical stuff just because you want it and you want to be proactive and not necessary because you need it per se - so either excercise or medication/supplements (not meditation, cause, again, that’s a 12th house thing).
It’s usually said that the 6th is about routine but for me it’s more about responsibility: you do things because you have to do them, otherwise things can go bad: you do your work, your duties; if you’re suffering from any illnesses, you need to consistently take care of it etc.
Then there’s a connection between the service and health aspect of the house so it can point to working in a health service. And finally, out of nicer things, 6th house rules pets. Smaller pets, to be exact.
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