The astrological houses in your natal chart are the rooms where your placements live, so calling them "houses" is actually very appropriate! You can think of the planets in your birth chart as people, the signs they're in as the clothes or style they wear and the houses they're in as the room or the environment that they hangout in. It can help to better understand your chart if you personify your placements, plus it makes learning astrology a lot more fun.
Each of the 12 houses of astrology has a different vibe, a different décor if you will, from self esteem to business deals, and even our early environment.
So if you are a Leo sun but so is you BFF yet they act like a totally different sign, this might be why!
The 12 Zodiac Houses And Their Rulerships
Everyone has a unique birth chart and therefore a unique house system, which is based on your rising sign, AKA your ascendant. The ascendant is where the sun was on the horizon in relation to where you were on the planet when you were born (pretty cool, huh). Since we're looking at the exact moment in time when you were born, you will need to know your birth time. So if you don't know it already, get out your phone and text your mom for your birth time ASAP.
Starting from your ascendant the houses move counter clockwise around your chart. Each of the 12 houses of astrology are traditionally ruled by a sign, the first house being ruled by Aries, the second house being ruled by Taurus, the third house being ruled by Gemini and so on.
However, in your own birth chart each of these houses are going to be ruled by different signs depending on which zodiac sign rules your first house, unless it's ruled by Aries, then you're houses fall in the twelve houses of their traditional rulerships!
If you're looking at your chart now you may notice that many planets are clustered in a just a few of the houses of your chart while some the houses are empty. Don't worry, that's normal!
Most of our charts tend to favor certain houses over others. And even though a house might have no planets in it, it's still important to know which sign rules that house because it will tell you about how you relate to that area of your life.
Now let's dive into what the vibe of each of the houses are and what each house covers, so scroll down to read about what kind of rooms the planets live in in your birth chart!
The 1st House: Self-Image
You can think of this as an amazing walk in closet with lots of mirrors (we're talking about a dream walk in closet here).
This is the house of you, baby! The first house is where the zodiac wheel begins, on the western horizon of your chart. It's the beginning of your personality as well as the beginning of the personal houses which are houses 1-6, these houses tell us about our identity and personal growth. While the sun sign tells us about our most basic foundational self, the first house can actually tell us more about how we view ourselves and how we view the world.
The zodiac sign that rules this house is our rising sign and something cool about our rising sign is that it can indicate some of our physical appearance (genetics allowing). Libra risings tend to have very symmetrical faces, Scorpio risings usually have naturally very dark or red hair, Sagittarius risings are usually known to have strong beautiful legs, etc.
The 2nd House: Self-Worth and Money
You can think of this house as a sunroom filled with plants or maybe a safe where you hide the valuables in your house.
The second house is all about the tangible world of what we can touch, what we can own and what we can do with it. Money, personal resources, and material possessions naturally fall under the rule of the second house because of this, but the idea of worth goes beyond what we can hold in our hands, so we can also learn a lot about our own self worth in this house. If you're looking for a self esteem boost, look to your second house to see what zodiac sign rules it, the good qualities of that sign are ones that you'll want to lean into in this life.
The sign that rules this house in your chart can tell you about you personal finances and how you will acquire money in this life time, as well as what parts of yourself you should nourish in order to feel more valuable.
The 3rd House: Communication
This house can feel like a library or a busy kitchen, depending on the sign that rules the third house in your chart.
The third house is the house of the mind and early education. This is how we think and communicate, it's the quality of our thoughts and the speed at which we think them. So for some this house can feel like sitting curled up in a nice cozy chair reading a book and for others it's more like that moment where you say one word and yet your sibling or cousin knows exactly what you're thinking.
The sign that rules this house can tell us about whether or not we have a good memory, if we are more nostalgic, anxious, stuck in our ways, open to change, etc.
The 4th House: Family, Home, Roots & Security
You can think of this house as the family room or even our childhood bedroom.
The fourth house is one of the 4 angular houses, living at the very bottom of the chart, it represents our relationship to family and early childhood so this is a sensitive place where we can sometimes find old childhood wounds. You're probably already well aware of what your childhood was like, but it's always nice to see things affirmed by astrology. Plus, the beauty of astrology is that it gives you a language to be able to better understand an articulate some of the things you've gone through. And if you're one of the lucky ones who had an amazing home life, you might have a Cancer ruled fourth house!
The sign that rules this house can tell you about what kind of family you might want to create in the future. Remember, family doesn't need to be nuclear!
The 5th House: Self-Expression, Creativity, Pleasure, & Romance
This house is a backyard equipped with a pool, hot tub, bar, a playground, some paint, sidewalk chalk, a bubble wand, a karaoke machine (can I come over?)
The fifth house rules all things pleasure and creative self expression. This house will tell you how you like to play and have fun, it can also help you connect you to your inner child which, after diving into the fourth house, is probably necessary. Inner child fun isn't the only kind of joy we see here, this house also covers sexual relationships and dating. This is the fun and flirty side of dating, you know, before you get burnt out and delete al the apps and decide to find love the old fashioned way (by waiting until a handsome person wakes you up from a deadly slumber by a kiss of true love).
The sign that rules your fifth house lets you know what makes you feel the most joy, so study this area to know what you need to lean into to feel that bliss, baby. Beware, if Virgo or Capricorn rules your fifth house unfortunately you might have the lingering belief that all pleasures are guilty pleasures.
The 6th House: Work & Health
You can think of this house as your home office.
The sixth house is really important because we learn about the day to day minutiae of life here; these are our daily routines and habits. It's not just work routines that we find in this astrological house, both business and health related habits are maintained here, so someone with an Aries ruled sixth house probably loves to exercise but is less of a workaholic, while a Virgo ruled sixth house person is probably very concerned with both!
The sign that rules your sixth house is a good indicator of which part of your body you should take extra care of in this lifetime. Did you know that each of the zodiac signs rules over certain parts of the body? Taurus rules the throat and neck, Gemini rules the hands, Cancer rules the breasts, etc.
The 7th House: Partnership & Marriage
You can think of this house as the master bedroom, you know, where the parents sleep but also have adult conversations out of earshot from the kids.
The seventh house is the next angular house, falling directly opposite the first house, on the eastern horizon of the chart. It's also the start of the interpersonal houses which are the houses 7-12, these houses are about community and transformation. The big misconception with the seventh house is that it's about dating, but it's not! No, this house is all about serious partnerships and close relationships. So what we're looking at is marriage, business partnerships, lifelong friendships, and all legal partnerships. These are our serious one to one relationships.
So the seventh house being about partnership is fun because this is what we look for in others since your seventh house is ruled by the sister sign of your first house. Each of the 12 zodiac signs has a sister sign-AKA an oppositional pair-and these sister signs share common goals but completely different ways of going about those goals. So, we look for people who balance us out, people who bring a different energy yet share a common goal or set of values.
The 8th House: Transformation & Sexuality
You can think of this house as the bathroom.
Hear me out about relating this house to a bathroom... The eighth house covers a lot of stuff: transformation, sex, money, joint resources, authority figures, death and rebirth. We often go into the bathroom dirty and come out clean, sometimes we go in there to get away from the party or to get some privacy from our parents, sometimes we even go in there to have sex! It's a powerful, private, and transformative place, just like the eighth house!
The sign that rules your eighth house will tell you about your own personal transformation in this life. Use this information wisely; the wisdom may not come come to you instantly, but just take a long hot shower and think it over.
The 9th House: Belief Systems & Higher Learning
You can think of this house as a big library or maybe even a beautiful rooftop with a telescope.
The ninth house is where we create our personal life's beliefs and philosophies. This house represents our relationship to higher education, foreign languages, and long distance travel because it's where we broaden our horizons and break out of the paradigms we were born into. Basically, this house is the "blow your mind open" house! So someone with Gemini ruling their ninth house might love to learn about religion but never ascribe to one dogma, while someone with Taurus in the ninth house might believe that they know the one true definitive meaning of life, and someone with a Sagittarius ruled ninth house needs to travel the world as a means of education.
The sign that rules this house will give you some information about whether you're open minded or close minded. An earth sign ruling the ninth house will be pretty closeminded while an air sign will be pretty openminded, the water and fire signs could go either way, but will feel very passionately.
The 10th House: Career/Profession, Responsibility, Reputation, & Standing
You can think of this house as the front lawn or porch of the house.
The tenth house is the last of the angular houses, this house rules our career path and public image. The tenth house sits at the very top of the chart, so it's kind of like the tip of the iceberg, which is why it's what everyone knows you for. You know how when you first meet someone they ask you "so, what do you do for work?" yeah, that's the tenth house tip of the iceberg in action. Much like the curb appeal of a house itself, your tenth house tells us about first impressions.
The sign that rules this house can give you some info about the title of your career, it's less about the actual work you will do (that was the second and sixth houses, remember?) and more the field that you will most succeed in.
The 11th House: Aspirations & Personal Goals, Groups
You can think of this house as the formal dining room.
The eleventh house is all about the groups of people we surround ourselves with and align ourselves to. You might want to imagine this house as a big potluck dinner with all of your friends, as well as the most inspiring people in your life. Everyone brings a dish to share, everyone feeds one another with food and conversation, you walk away from the potluck feeling satiated and inspired.
The sign that rules your eleventh house will tell you about what kinds of friendships you make. If an earth sign rules your eleventh house you're going to look for grounding in friendships while air signs will be drawn to people out of curiosity.
The 12th House: Soul Growth & Undoing, Privacy & Secrets
You can think of this house as the basement of our pretend house, one that has a secret entrance that only you know how to enter and exit.
The last house in the zodiac wheel is an extremely private place and because of that it can be a place of self undoing or great spiritual advancement. Much like a basement we tend to hide things away here often letting them mold or decay, but if we take the time to unpack the things we try to hide in the twelfth house it can lead to personal growth.
The sign that rules your twelfth house can actually tell you about your propensity for mediumship or psychic abilities. If it's ruled by a water sign like Pisces, Scorpio or Cancer you likely have these gifts.
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