Andromeda DavisIn our previous article, Understanding Houses in Astrology, we introduced you to the general meanings of each of the 12 houses of the zodiac. In this article, we go further in-depth to explain more about the what, where, how and why.
Recap of the twelve zodiac houses
Here’s a quick review of each house of the zodiac and what each represents.
1st house: Identity
The first house is ruled by Aries and is associated with impressions, appearances, and how others see you.
2nd house: Resources
The second house is ruled by Taurus and is associated with your personal resources, material and physical things, as well as your finances and abilities.
3rd house: Communication
The third house is ruled by Gemini and is associated with the mind, intellect, communication, and social connections.
4th house: Home
The fourth house is ruled by Cancer and is associated with home and family.
5th house: Pastimes
The fifth house is ruled by Leo and is associated with self-expression, romance, play and fun.
6th house: Work & career
The sixth house is ruled by Virgo and is associated with your working career, as well as organization, rules, routines and systems.
7th house: Partners
The seventh house is ruled by Libra and is associated with relationships, marriage, business partnerships, contracts and all connections to other people.
8th house: The unknown
The eighth house is ruled by Scorpio and is associated with the unknown, fate and the things you can’t control, such as bloodlines, birth and death.
9th house: Travel & wisdom
The ninth house is ruled by Sagittarius and is associated with risk, adventure, luck and travel. It also concerns wisdom, philosophy, education, religion, morals and ethics.
10th house: Career & social status
The tenth house is ruled by Capricorn and is associated with social status, long-term goals, public image, discipline, tradition, fathers and fatherhood.
11th house: Ideals
The eleventh house is ruled by Aquarius and is associated with acts within the community, humanitarianism, social awareness, friends, groups, teams and society.
12th house: Self-sacrifice
The twelfth house is ruled by Pisces and is associated with what sacrifices you are able to make, healing, aging, closure, endings, tying up loose ends and completion.
How house positions are determined
The House system moves through the zodiac counterclockwise. House positions are determined by the Ascendant, the rising point in the east. This marks the cusp of the first House. The Ascendant will travel a full 360 degrees through the zodiac each day, therefore it can be in any position in the zodiac. The remainder of the Houses follow in the same order.
While there are differing ways in astrology for calculating the house positions, The most established ones in western astrology are Placidus and Equal House, the latter of which is a system where all houses are of the same 30 degrees in size. This is a simpler system as 12 houses multiplied by 30 degrees equals the full 360 degrees of the zodiac.
How aspects relate to Houses
Aspects in astrology are the relationship between planets or other points in a horoscope chart determined by specific angles. The most significant ones are opposition (180 degrees), trine (120 degrees), square (90 degrees), sextile (60 degrees, and conjunction (zero degrees).
The significant of oppositions
Houses in opposition (180 degrees) are an indicator of irreconcilable differences or situations where there are opinions or perspectives in opposition.
House oppositions:
- 1st House – 7th House
- 2nd House – 8th House
- 3rd House – 9th House
- 4th House – 10th House
- 5th House – 11th House
- 6th House – 12th House
Comparing these differences for meanings
Here are some potential meanings when houses are in opposition.
- 1st House – 7th House (self-identity versus partnership)
- 2nd House – 8th House (resources and abilities versus things beyond your control)
- 3rd House – 9th House (miscommunication, fact versus fiction)
- 4th House – 10th House (home and family versus career or social status)
- 5th House – 11th House (pastimes or romance versus your ideals)
- 6th House – 12th House (work and career versus necessary sacrifices)
In a future article…
In a future article, we will look at the way in which Aspects correspond to Houses in other relationships such as through: Trines, Squares, Sextiles, as well as, Elements, and the modalities of Cardinal, Fixed and Mutable relationships and more.
Shea Lee
