Astrological Houses
Introduction and House by House Descriptions
Hello reader! Every Thursday (or a bit earlier), I post the notes from this week’s episode of Maria Luz’s Conscious Curiosities podcast.
In this episode, I give a basic explanation of the concept of houses in astrology, and then dive into each of the 12 houses in detail, using examples from famous people’s birth charts as well as my own first hand experience.
When I explain the building blocks of the language of astrology to someone who knows only their Sun sign, I tell them to imagine a theatrical production, such as a play or musical. The planets are the actors, the signs are the costumes specific to the role, and the houses are the different sets which represent where the action happens.
This is of course a simplification, but it is easy to remember for most people, so I think it is a great place to begin. Another way to think about this more abstractly may be to differentiate between motivation and behavior, or as astrologer Steven Forrest puts it, the signs are “being” and the houses are “doing”, while planets “rule” a sign. The more you practice thinking along these lines, the more the archetypes of the energies will come to life.
My first astrology teacher described it as learning first words, then being able to string them together in a sentence, and finally into paragraphs. As I have plowed through explanations of the planets in this podcast, with information on the signs sprinkled in, I think it will be helpful to discuss houses next. Why? Because this knowledge will empower you to take any weekly astrology forecast and determine how and to what degree the energy described will impact you personally based upon your birth chart.
If you haven’t done so yet, listen to episode 1, which will get you started on your birth chart. As I discuss each house, you will want to look at your birth chart to see which sign is at the cusp of that house and which planets (if any) are in that house. Then you will be able to listen back to the various planet episodes to understand how the behavior that is described by the house manifests for you generally. And knowing which sign the planets are in currently will allow you to place them into a house in your birth chart (this is how to apply any old astrology forecast to your chart personally!).
There is a concept which both complicates and simplifies, and that is that you can almost think of the zodiac as a progression from the first house to the twelfth, from birth in a human body to returning to source. Along this train of thought, the first house corresponds to Aries and the twelfth with Pisces, with the order in between the same as the zodiacal seasons (Aries, Taurus, Gemini, etc). You can see how it simplifies in that A is like B, yet I just said that A is not like B!
So, I have to stress that I am giving a basic overview of the houses. If you want in depth coverage, I just learned that The Astrology Podcast is doing a series on the houses. Chris Brennan, the host, is amazing and a true Scorpio, meaning he goes deep. His part 1 episode on the 1st house alone is over 3 hours long.
Alas, there is no other choice than to simply begin somewhere. I promise after some practice it will just click into place like your high school French classes led you eventually to ask your friends “Ca va?” instead of “How is it going?”. I am going to be the stereotypical Leo sun and use my personal stories as examples where I think it will help flesh the concepts out. However, I will also throw in some famous people’s examples. I will spend the most time on the First House, as it has special importance.
First House.
The first house is determined by identifying the sign on the eastern horizon at the time and location of your birth. This is the self on the most basic level. Think “me - Tarzan, you - Jane”. Because of its association with the self, its importance is elevated over perhaps any other house.
The natural association by sign is Aries and by planet Mars, but note that your rising sign is the one which you will want to keep in mind with the following description.
It represents the physical self as well as characteristics about you. You can see already how the concept of being (signs) vs. doing (houses) is rapidly blurring. It is easier to explain by using the example of a transiting planet. Most people know that one of the things Mars is associated with is violence, so it could be that when Mars is transiting your first house, there is a chance you will experience violence.
But Mars can also represent drive to act upon your desires, so you could experience that. Those things could be the same event if you are the one exhibiting the violence based upon your desire to do so (please don’t!).
If there are planets in your first house of your birth chart, the associations of those planets will likely just be a part of you that you need to understand about yourself as a person. For example, I have Neptune in my first house, and have definitely had Neptune related experiences, such as having a vivid imagination, tendency toward escapism (alcohol addiction - bingo! - is associated with Neptune in the 1st house), and sleep related issues. These things happened to me and became intrinsic to me.
Second House.
So, in the first house you were essentially born, and now you must have food, shelter, valuables to be secure. These are all second house themes. This house is related to Taurus and Venus (but remember, your sign and any planets will play in this sandbox!).
The singer Rihanna has Taurus at the cusp of her 2nd house, and the Part of Fortune in this house, and with a net worth of $1.4 Billion, is the richest woman musician in the world. This is so perfect on many levels. Taurus rules the throat, Venus is associated with musicianship, and of course both Taurus and Venus can make for someone adept at money and focused on security. Rihanna’s beauty line is a huge contributor to her net worth, so one can see she wisely looked at sources other than her singing.
Third House.
Moving along the wheel of life, you now need to find some help and company so as not to be lonely. So communication, siblings, short travel, neighborhoods, and early education reside in this house. It is naturally related to Gemini and Mercury.
Pluto has been transiting through my third house, and during this time, I have definitely experienced power and transformation (= Pluto) during this time! I started a podcast, a YouTube channel, and am writing regularly for my Substack, which now has 3 sections. All of these things are communication and Mercurial and were intensified by Pluto.
My relationship with my siblings has also transformed (that is a story for my main Substack, someday).
Fourth House.
Home, family of origin, ancestors, and a parent (often the one responsible for raising you) are represented here. This house is associated with Cancer and the Moon. An example would be if you had Sagittarius on the cusp of your fourth house, and your family of origin traveled often or you came from a long line of adventurers, as exploration and travel are associated with Sagittarius.
Architect Frank Lloyd Wright had Jupiter and Chiron in Pisces in the 4th house, and his designs meant to eliminate the separation between the home structure and its natural environment, which is a very Piscean and spiritual way of going about architecture, which had been very utilitarian or showy in the west up until his influence.
Fifth House.
This house is naturally associated with the Sun and with Leo, so it has sunny feeling things in it, like fun, children, creativity, self-expression, romanticism. If for example, you have the Sun in this house, these areas will be more prominent throughout your life, although the expression may change as you change from child to adult.
My example here is the brilliant actor and comedian Robin Williams, who was lost to suicide attributed to Lewy body dementia, a neurological disease. He had Jupiter in Aries in the 5th house of his birth chart, and he was obviously gifted and unafraid to charge ahead into roles and comedy pieces. If you haven’t seen the movie Mrs Doubtfire, please stop and add it to your queue right now. He is brilliant in it. Sally Field is not bad, either.
Sixth House.
This is the area where you experience your daily behaviors, thus it encompasses things like health, the tasks that make up your everyday work, how you provide service to others, things that you can mentor or need mentoring in. This house is associated with Virgo and its ruler, Mercury (although some astrologers, myself included, are finding associations with the asteroid Chiron, as well).
A personal example here is that my Moon is in the sixth house, so in order to feel emotionally ‘at home’ (a prominent Moon theme), I need to do things which keep my body healthy on a daily basis, like exercise and learning about nutrition and well-being. I don’t do those in order to look a certain way or because they are part of my religion, I do them in order to feel (Moon) a certain way.
You can transfer this idea of your Moon to the house where yours lives to see under what circumstances you feel most emotionally ‘at home’ (I didn’t say comfortable, because some Moon placements are not super comfortable, but can be worked with).
Seventh House.
This contains how we learn lessons through close personal relationships, and is associated with Libra and Venus. Take the example of Scorpio at the cusp of the 7th house (Note: this is one of the angles with a formal designation, called the Descendant. The other three angles are: the Ascendant (cusp of 1st house), the IC (cusp of the 4th house), and the MC (cusp of the 10th house).
Scorpio energy doesn’t mess around. It is not going to go in for superficial relationships. It craves intimacy in every way. Versus having Taurus, its polarity, on the descendant, where the primary point of such relationships will be to establish security. Of course, your Mars, Venus, and Moon signs and placements play significant roles in what you seek out, what you attract, and why.
Eighth House.
This house contains all the things many cultures for ages have considered taboo: sex, death, and other people’s stuff that we inherit or otherwise acquire (legitimately or not!). For anyone out there freaking out because your Sun or Moon are in this house, well, try not to. However, know that your soul wants to explore lessons in these challenging areas, so you may face these themes as a participant, spectator, or creative. For example, the Queen of Mystery Writers, Agatha Christie, had her Sun in the 8th house. While she actually did have these themes in her life (I highly recommend her autobiography and the biography by Lucy Worsley is good, too), they also manifested in her becoming famous for writing about these taboo topics.
Ninth House.
Think Jupiter and Sagittarius for this house: travel, religion, law, expanding horizons via spirituality and higher education. The Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had his Sun in the ninth house in Capricorn. He of course was a Baptist Minister, and he also earned Bachelor’s degrees in Sociology and Divinity, as well as a PhD in Systematic Theology.
Tenth House.
This house is all about one’s public persona, such as career, reputation, and legacy, and is associated with Capricorn and its ruler Saturn. If you happen to have Saturn in the 10th house, or when you experience Saturn transiting through your 10th house, these themes will be especially significant in your life.
I have my Sun in the tenth house and this has made for a life with a lot of focus on career. I can tell you that I didn’t set out to have a big career but life made it so! I married young and was the more responsible and consistent member of the couple, so in addition to being pregnant or nursing three children for a cumulative time period of 6+ years, I also had to remain the career focused person and not take maternity leave outside of the 2 - 6 weeks I was provided. I promise I am over it now, but it is a good example of ‘doing’ rather than ‘being’ a house. I had no choice but to rise into being what it did to me.
Eleventh House.
This is where the groups you associate with come into play, and as we tend to become like the people we surround ourselves with, your future lies. More and more, it is linked to Social Media. It is associated with Aquarius, and its rulers Saturn (Hellenistic astrology) and Uranus (modern astrology).
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has a stellium (grouping of 3 or more planets in a sign or house) in Scorpio in the eleventh house. I took a wild guess that his Sun or Moon would be here, and my guess paid off.
He has his Moon, Mars, and Saturn here, which makes for someone obsessed with not only fitting into groups, but creating a structure for them.
Twelfth House.
This represents a culmination, or return to source. If you think about it it, this is where you ‘were’ before you were born. Which means it encompasses other realms, hidden things, the unconscious, including secrets. Like the eighth house, this can be a heavier house for certain placements. One theme I see often with clients (and saw in myself) is that they can’t easily access the energies of any planets placed here. They can be truly hidden or inaccessible from the individual, confounding events and dumbfounding the individual.
One example is Barack Obama, who has Saturn and Jupiter in Capricorn in his 12th house. Saturn can represent the father, especially in Capricorn, and his father was elusive to him, leaving his mother when he was 2 years old, and visiting only once when Barack was 10 years old. I am only guessing based upon what I remember of his time in public office (sorry, Barack, I haven’t had a hundred years to read your memoir yet), but looking at his Jupiter there, it points to religion or spirituality also being somewhat hidden from himself. The statements I could find seemed to be reflected more on others’ religions and spirituality rather than his own.
Oh my goodness, that was quite a journey for me, as I tend to fall face first down rabbit holes and have to claw my way back out! I don’t know how Chris Brennan does those hours long episodes, on video, no less. I bow down to him. So, if this episode only whetted your appetite, please go check out his podcast and series on Houses.
You are now empowered to be consciously curious about astrological houses!
If you want to personally work with me, please visit my website: www.marialuz.online to view the services I offer. I also have a lot of astrology basics info in the Astrology section. If you are new, I would start with an Astrology Reading to orient you to your birth chart.
Use code ASTROHYP for 20% off or email me (info@marialuz.online) if you are short on money but high on interest in your astrology!
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