Houses
The houses indicate where something plays out - the context.
Houses are strange and special in that they are not based on astronomical phenomena.
So what are they, and how do we calculate them?
Houses are based on the Earth’s 24-hour rotation around its own axis.
Imagine a snapshot taken of the sky at the moment of your birth. The entire sky, above and below the horizon lines, is divided into twelve sections, starting from the Rising Sign. These sections are called the houses. They each symbolize different areas of your life.
Let's come back to baby Nic
The houses are based on the rising sign & what’s overhead.
VIRGO CONSTELLATION
DIRECTLY OVERHEAD
Midheaven
SCORPIO CONSTELLATION
EASTERN HORIZON
Rising or Ascendant
These two points are extended through the center to the other side of the circle, forming a cross.
The four points of the cross define the start of the four angular houses.
DIRECTLY OVERHEAD
Midheaven
EASTERN HORIZON
Rising or Ascendant
DIRECTLY OPPOSITE MIDHEAVEN
Imum Coeli
DIRECTLY OPPOSITE ASCENDANT
DescendantBeginning of 10th House
Beginning of 1st House
Beginning of 4th House
Beginning of 7th House
Each of the four quadrants is divided into three to form twelve houses.
You'll notice those lines don't line up perfectly with the zodiac sign lines.
That's because your ascendant being 10% vs 90% into Sagittarius matters.
≠
The houses indicate where something plays out.
They're the context, or the nouns.
| 1ST HOUSE | Self-image, the impressions you make on others |
| 2ND HOUSE | Your personal resources, what makes you feel safe and secure |
| 3RD HOUSE | What you know and your everyday surroundings, including siblings and familiar patterns |
| 4TH HOUSE | Home life, family, close relationships, the past and its effect on you |
| 5TH HOUSE | Pleasure & creativity, self-expression, fun, children |
| 6TH HOUSE | Productivity, service, routines |
| 7TH HOUSE | Partnership and committed relationships, what you bring into your world through other people |
| 8TH HOUSE | How you relate to other people’s resources and things out of your control, including beginnings and endings, transformations, crises |
| 9TH HOUSE | Open-mindedness, philosophy, exchange of culture and ideas, expanded consciousness, travel |
| 10TH HOUSE | Your public self and commitments, career, how you wanted to be remembered, your legacy |
| 11TH HOUSE | Your social world, friends & acquaintances, how you relate to groups of people |
| 12TH HOUSE | Your unconscious, dreams, fantasies |
Scorpio rules my 12th house
=
"I approach secrets, dreams, and the unconscious with intensity and depth."
sign (adverb); scorpio = intense, deep
You can think of the houses in polarities.
Like sister signs, the houses that are in opposition to each other are thematically connected in some way, and often symbolize a balance that needs to be struck between your private self and your public persona.
Independence vs Harmony
Private Self
1st House
How you assert yourself to others
Public Persona
7th House
How you function in close relationships, and how you use those relationships to learn about yourself
Stability vs Trust
Private Self
2nd House
Material resources, and the identity you construct from them
Public Persona
8th House
The transformation or reshaping of your sense of self
Facts vs Ideas
Private Self
3rd House
How you express what you know, how you communicate with those you are close to or see frequently
Public Persona
9th House
How you increase what you know, how you expand your horizons, often in a more abstract sense than that of the 3rd house
Private life vs Public life
Private Self
4th House
Your domestic world, your relationship with your (chosen) family, and the pull of the past
Public Persona
10th House
How you go about achieving your goals, how you work, and what you hope to gain in the future
The Self vs the Collective
Private Self
5th House
Creative self-expression and personal pleasure
Public Persona
11th House
Shared goals, idealism, and prioritizing the food of a group above the self
Survival vs Transcendence
Private Self
6th House
How we can be helpful to those we love, day-to-day routines, and a need for order
Public Persona
12th House
A more spiritual kind of service, or the work we need to do to protect and strengthen our own psychic space
NEXT SECTION
house systems
There are many different ways of calculating houses. Porphyry is our favorite way of doing it.