Houses in astrology
Signs describe how a planet behaves. Houses describe where in your life it shows up. Here’s what each of the 12 houses rules.
Same sky, three ways to cut it into houses
Signs are fixed slices of the zodiac; houses are slices of your local sky. Placidus divides by time (how long each degree takes to rise), so houses stretch and shrink with latitude. Whole Sign makes each sign one house. Equal counts 30° from the exact Ascendant.
Ascendant 25°37′ Taurus. Smallest house 18°, largest 59°.
Push the latitude towards 60° with Placidus selected and watch some houses balloon past 50° while others shrink under 15°. It’s why astrologers in Scandinavia often prefer Whole Sign or Equal houses.
The 12 houses
- 1
1st house: Self
body, appearance, first impressions, how you start things.
Angular · natural sign ♈︎
- 2
2nd house: Resources
money, possessions, self-worth, what you value.
Succedent · natural sign ♉︎
- 3
3rd house: Communication
siblings, neighbours, short trips, learning, daily talk.
Cadent · natural sign ♊︎
- 4
4th house: Home & roots
family, home, ancestry, your private foundation.
Angular · natural sign ♋︎
- 5
5th house: Creativity & pleasure
romance, children, play, self-expression.
Succedent · natural sign ♌︎
- 6
6th house: Work & health
daily routines, service, habits, the body’s upkeep.
Cadent · natural sign ♍︎
- 7
7th house: Partnership
marriage, close partners, contracts, open rivals.
Angular · natural sign ♎︎
- 8
8th house: Shared resources
intimacy, debts, inheritance, crisis and renewal.
Succedent · natural sign ♏︎
- 9
9th house: Meaning
higher learning, travel abroad, beliefs, publishing.
Cadent · natural sign ♐︎
- 10
10th house: Career & status
vocation, reputation, authority, public life.
Angular · natural sign ♑︎
- 11
11th house: Community
friends, groups, networks, hopes for the future.
Succedent · natural sign ♒︎
- 12
12th house: The hidden
solitude, the unconscious, retreat, what you keep private.
Cadent · natural sign ♓︎
Angular, succedent and cadent
Angular houses (1, 4, 7, 10) begin at the chart’s four angles and are the most powerful and visible: self, home, partners, career. Succedent houses (2, 5, 8, 11) follow them and deal with resources and stability. Cadent houses (3, 6, 9, 12) “fall away” from the angles and govern learning, adjustment and transition.
Reading a planet in a house
Combine the three layers: the planet (what), the sign (how) and the house (where). Venus in Leo in the 10th: love and charm (Venus), expressed generously and dramatically (Leo), in public and career life (10th), for example someone whose work involves being liked. Your birth chart writes one of these sentences for each planet.
Questions people ask
What are the houses in astrology?
The 12 houses divide the sky around your birthplace, based on the Earth’s daily rotation, into sections that each represent an area of life: self, money, communication, home, creativity, work, partnership, shared resources, meaning, career, community and the unconscious.
How do I find my houses?
You need your exact birth time and place. Enter them in the birth chart calculator and every planet is listed with its house.
What does an empty house mean?
Nothing bad. There are 12 houses and only 10 planets, so several are always empty. Look at the sign on the cusp and where that sign’s ruling planet sits to read an empty house.
Which house system is best?
Placidus is the most common in modern Western astrology; Whole Sign is the oldest and popular again with traditional astrologers; Equal is simple and works at all latitudes. The calculator lets you switch between them.
What are angular houses?
The 1st, 4th, 7th and 10th houses start at the four angles (Ascendant, IC, Descendant, Midheaven). Planets there are considered especially prominent.