12 Houses in Astrology Explained

by Ryan Hart | Updated on May 3, 2021 | Post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

In Astrology, a House is one of the 12 equal divisions of the sky.

Houses refer to a specific position in the Zodiac as per the position of a person’s rising sign at the time of a person’s birth.

It is believed that the location of planets within houses is a reflection of a person’s character and the kind of personality traits that he or she possesses.

Astrology houses are archetypal patterns within your psyche, which represent fundamental life areas which you may project in your relationships.

The 12 astrological house system is based on natural divisions of the sky, making it easy to identify their meanings. It is the second oldest feature of western astrology, after the Zodiac.

A natal chart shows the positions of the bodies in the sky and is calculated at the moment of an individual’s birth. The positions of these bodies can have a strong influence on your personality and how you approach everyday situations, but remember that there are no negative or positive influences of placement, merely different ways of expressing yourself.

1st House

The 1st house is the first area of your chart. It’s about you as an individual, self-expression and how you relate to the world around you.

The first house is all about you. It describes your personality and behavior, how you make an impression on others, and how others perceive you. In a 12-house system, the 1st house begins the cycle of houses and planets moving through the sky.

In this house you will find your self orientation, identity and outward expression. In your chart, it reveals how comfortable you are in the world, how self-assured you are and also how open you can be to change. This house also represents your profession or maybe your greatest achievement.

This is the house of many things including self expression and identity, and denotes your outward appearance (along with houses 2, 5 and 7). It also represents your personality, leadership qualities, and how you present yourself to others.

Learn more about the first house

2nd House

The 2nd House in Astrology represents financial matters, physical surroundings, your close relationships, and all that is valuable to you.

The 2nd House is ruled by Taurus, the Bull. It indicates your financial resources and how you choose to spend them. Your 2nd House is also one of two Houses that represent your mother.

The Second House represents material wealth and resources, and also indicates our personal finances. The traditional meaning of the 2nd house is cash, income or finances derived primarily from material possessions, real estate, and inheritance. It is also concerned with establishing a family and building a home.

In this house you can see your wealth, power, love life, and self-expression. And, when this house is empty, it means you need to work on developing all of these areas in your life. The 2nd House emphasizes the need for financial security and resources.

Learn more about the second house

3rd House

The 3rd house rules siblings, neighbors, communication, short trips and messages. This placement gives a distinct sense of honor and is very sociable. If malefic planets are associated with this house, then there are problems in communication.

The Third House also deals with the affairs of daily life. It concerns the person you deal with personally; it is the house of companions, friends, relatives, and the opposite sex. If well aspected it indicates congeniality, money making, happiness in marriage and traveling. If afflicted it denotes ill health, loss through enemies and worry over relatives.

The 3rd House is the house that refers to the communications and science areas of life. This house shows how we relate to others and it reveals our personal interests, projects, hobbies, creativity, entertainment, and communication skills. This house relates to news information and to television and travel technology.

The third house also rules over our mental faculties, our sense of expression, communication and creativity. It rules over all the investments you own, helps to predict your overall financial gain or loss in life and gives hints about your short journeys that you are planning for the current year.

Learn more about the third house

4th House

The 4th house is the house of the family home, work, and our roots. It is one of the most important and influential houses in the astrology chart.

It is a favorable House for people looking to establish a sense of security and harmony in their lives. People with this placement are good at organizing everyday life.

They are very public-spirited and will put quite a bit of effort into community activities. The 4th House lends a strong sense of loyalty, devotion and attention to detail.

This house rules domestic affairs, our home and family, and where we feel most secure. It describes how we interact with our spouse or long-term partner, our children, and other family matters. Key placements in the 4th House also indicate inheritance and legacies.

The 4th House is associated with the idea of finding a sanctuary for one’s soul, or home, and with values and resources such as land, property, money, and inheritance.

This is the house of domestic order, home and family, as well as your roots, heritage and ancestry. This is where the cares of the world fall away and you finally enjoy a moment’s peace.

Learn more about the fourth house

5th House

The fifth house in astrology is the house of creativity, pleasure, children, and enjoyment.

The 5th house is a very special place in a person’s horoscope. It is through the 5th house that most of us develop our skills, talents and understanding of the world around us.

The planets located in this house have a powerful influence on education, friendships, love affairs and amusements. They will eventually affect every aspect of our lives.

The placement of your 5th house planets in relation to your natal planets also reveals where you need to manifest more initiative and creativity in order to achieve balance in your life.

A 5th house placement may suggest that you are most alive and energetic when you are engaged in creativity and the cultural domain. The 5th House is associated with play, children, hobbies, entertainment, risk-taking, style, romance, and social activities.

The 5th House in astrology is all about fun and adventure! The 5th House is ruled by Mercury, which rules communication, so this house is about self-expression and creative outlets. People with strong 5th Houses are entertaining, gregarious and love to play.

Learn more about the fifth house

6th House

The 6th House in astrology pertains mainly to our health and our work, which are of great importance to us. It has been said that the 6th House is about the shadow, and the area wherein we project a part of ourselves onto a person or thing.

The 6th house is the house of service. People who have planets in this house are more interested in serving others, helping and doing charitable work than they are about accumulating wealth or power for themselves.

If a planet is placed in the 6th House, it gives good qualities to the person, and this placement generally contributes much to their success in life.

The Sixth House represents our foundations of life – health, security, and value we get from working. It tells us how our day-to-day experience can be influenced by the physical environment we live in, from knowing that we have enough money to rear for a comfortable retirement to knowing that our property is safe and sound or even that we are in good health.

The 6th House is the double-occupancy house of health and work. The demands of the Sixth House are exerted on a daily basis to keep the house clean and in good repair. Saturn, the planetary ruler of this house, governs jobs, employees and bosses alike.

This house deals with effort, responsibility and how you manage your time and finances. It also has some bearing on your working hours, health and safety at work, and aspects of your family life. Natives placed here are likely to be very involved in service, hospitals and health at some stage in their life.

When a planet is placed here it describes a person who tirelessly explores and experiments with their creative side. This is the sign of artists, philosophers, scientists, orators, writers, and inventors.

These people are incredibly insightful and often communicate in unconventional ways. In many cases this placement is associated with pressure sensitivity or psychic abilities.

This is the house of health, service and entertainment. It is the house of profession. Natives having a positive 6th house placement often have good health and longevity. They get divine knowledge by which they can earn name and fame in their life. They become successful in their profession.

Learn more about the sixth house

7th House

The 7th House in astrology is the house of partnerships. The 7th House often represents your relationship with your lover, spouse or significant other. If you have planets in this house, this tells us a great deal about your personal needs in relationships.

The 7th House house signifies the relationship between husband and wife, brothers and sisters, or partnerships.

The 7th House is often referred to as the “relationship house”, as it represents our relationships in general and how we relate to others. It is also a house about sharing resources, and teamwork. It looks at who we share our lives with and the agreements we make with others.

The 7th House is the house of marriage, partnerships, and close relationships. It represents connections with your soulmate, ex partners, marriage, and any partnership you may have with those in your personal life.

If you’ve been married for a long time, your partner’s 7th House can tell you how he or she has changed over the years. If you’re not married now but hope to be someday, remember that both partners' 7th Houses will be factors in any relationship.

A planet in your 7th House shows that you will receive income from legacies, investments and other sources. This placement also implies that you have numerous expenses, losses and injuries of various kinds.

Learn more about the seventh house

8th House

The 8th House in astrology represents inheritance, both material and non-material. It rules wealth, great possessions, and potential for power. The 8th House also rules joint resources such as bank accounts, credit cards, and other shared assets.

It’s associated with your partner, spouses, business partners, and people/organizations with whom you have a joint financial venture. The 8th house rules inheritances as well as legacies that come out of the blue, monetary gifts from unknown sources and chance windfalls.

The chart of 8th house shows your hidden assets and liabilities that are out of the eye of others. Your secrets, goals, ideals, fears, and ailments are being explained by this house.

The eighth house also concerns death and rebirth. If you have planets in this house (and the ninth) it signifies a powerful influence on your life, and special strengths in certain areas.

An 8th house natal chart placement describes someone who has all the qualities that are attributed most highly to their sign. The personality traits of powerful ambition, and leadership potential, for example, are inherent in an 8th House placement.

This is the house of transformation, energy exchange and regeneration. To the ancients, this area represented the hearth and home. Events in your life that occur in a meaningful and significant way usually happen here.

If there is a good placement of the 8th house in your natal chart, it indicates that you are wise and intelligent. You are careful about your financial matters which will bring prosperity to your life. There may be chances of disputes, court cases and litigation in your life; however, you win the case easily because of your intelligence, logic, ability to analyze the situation in right perspective.

Learn more about the eighth house

9th House

When 9th House energy is prominent in a birth chart, the native tends to think globally and act on issues of a wider perspective. The native carries these concerns over into the home and domestic affairs and in the formation of material wealth

The 9th House is primarily regarded as the house of hope, ambition, travel, and philosophy. This placement indicates a person who has strong conviction with an underlying sense of religious or spiritual dedication. One is more likely to accept responsibility for many things in life and have strong ambitions for self-expansion and self-improvement.

The 9th House is about exploration, self-awakening, connecting to higher principles and things metaphysical. The 9th house reveals what we’re interested in and what we want in terms of relationships and friendships. People with a planet in the Ninth House will be well-travelled and have opportunities for education in these areas.

They will have an honest nature and be interested in religion and philosophy. The Ninth House lord will be a benefactor to the native, either through direct financial assistance or even through the influence of his or her fame and reputation.

The 9th House is the most philosophically minded of all the houses in the natal (or birth) chart. Some astrologers also use this house to indicate law, government work, or even a vocation as a healer.

Learn more about the ninth house

10th House

The Tenth House is about public image, status, and reputation, career advancement, and recognition from peers, teachers and bosses. It is also about new endeavors that have a potential to change your life in the long term.

Your 10th House placement gives you a strong sense of your life’s work and purpose, and you want it to be meaningful. You cherish your reputation, and the higher that is, the more successful you feel. Homes and other possessions are an important sign of this status, but are secondary to inner recognition from others.

The 10th House in astrology is the house of status and career. It’s where we meet our peers and make name for ourselves, sometimes it’s the place where we feel just a little out of place. This is because it’s not about the position or means we hold; it’s the level of our consciousness that has us mingling with equals.

It represents our chance for serious accomplishment in the world, and symbolizes everything that will come from the hard work and effort we put into our life.

In other words, it’s where we reach seniority. After ages of taking on small projects and minor roles, we’re finally ready to take that senior management job or take control of the family business, one way or another.

The 10th House is a powerful position in your chart because it affects how you view the world. Some astrologers believe that because the 10th House corresponds with career (and not with jobs), it signifies how you “see yourself” while working. It is your professional identity, what others see when they look at your work, and how they perceive you in your workplace.

Learn more about the tenth house

11th House

The 11th house in astrology is a house of hopes and wishes but also of fears. The 11th house is where we build our friendships, and our goals and hopes for the future lie as well. If planets are well placed here they can give easy access to influential people, and much comfort from social contacts.

It is also associated with hopes, wishes, ambitions and dreams, and if badly placed it can show lack of confidence in oneself or others, or may lead to disappointment from friends. The 11th house is also associated with big business management.

An 11th House placement indicates a strong desire for affiliation with groups and organizations. This placement is quite common in those born with Neptune prominent in their chart as they are naturally drawn to others. This type of placement can bring on many different forms of emotional healing for those living with this indication.

The 11th House is the house that indicates our friends, groups, clubs and associations. This house shows where we contact with outside world. It governs our social life, groups, clubs, associations and traveling

This house has been called the “birds nest” and deals with the dreams, wishes and aspirations of an individual. This house deals with everything that has to do with friends and people in authority. This can be life-long friendships or group activities you enjoy. It can also be your hopes and wishes for the world as a whole.

The 11th house is the area of life dealing with philosophy and religion, idealism, speculation, understanding other people, idealism.

Often this house will deal with organizations or groups that are humanitarian in nature, such as charities, organizations set up to better the lives of others who are less fortunate than yourself, societies related to various beliefs (religious, political) or even clubs.

The 11th House represents breadth of view and generosity of spirit. Planets in the 11th house will help you connect to others, expand your network, and introduce you to new areas of interest. The planets there bring luck through friendships and groups.

Learn more about the eleventh house

12th House

The 12th House is one of the most misunderstood concepts in astrology. This critical part of any horoscope and every birth chart is rich in detail and meaning.

Your 12th House describes your relationship with mystery, the unconscious, secrets, self-knowledge, and seclusion. It is often associated with challenges that involve deprivation, loss, isolation, hospitals, prisons or institutions, hidden enemies, fear of death or illness, self-undoing or secret enemies.

The 12th House is the House that often represents one’s unconscious, including those things that are subconscious. As a natural originator of tension, the 12th House serves as a virtual incubator of much that remains hidden from conscious awareness.

The twelfth house is associated with the collective realms of life, such as those of groups, neighborhoods, organizations, states, the world in general. Ruled by Neptune, it has the most expansive range of meanings in astrology.

The Twelfth House is simultaneously the house of darkness and the house of hidden things. It is fertile ground for pursuing hidden matters, but these can be difficult to uncover, because this is also the house of secrecy, disguise and privacy.

Learn more about the twelfth house

Now It's Your Turn

And now I’d like to hear from you.

Which houses are prominent in your birth chart?

What do these placements say about your personality and how you relate to others?

Please leave a comment below and let me know.

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About the Author:
Ryan Hart

Ryan Hart is a certified relationship coach and writer. His mission is to help make connections between people better, stronger, more meaningful, and longer lasting using technology.

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