The Houses
The 360 degrees of the zodiac circle are divided into twelve sections that are known as the house system. The houses reveal in which part of life the majority of our attention and energies will be focussed for this lifetime. Each one belongs to a specific field of experience of earthly life. The houses reveal how someone functions, for example in their interactions with other people, work or love affairs and so forth. There are twelve signs and houses in the zodiac. Each house is the natural domain of one of the signs. While each sign occupies thirty degrees of the zodiac, depending on which house system is used, the house sizes may vary. House calculations can only be carried out when a time of birth is known.
There are several methods: Placidus is the most ancient and my preferred one, dates back to the 17th century. There is also the equal house system, Koch, Regiomontanus, Campanus, Alcabitius, Topocentric, Morinus and so forth.
1st house, the Ascendant, natural domain of Aries, cardinal Fire. This house is located on the left hand side of the natal chart and corresponds to the place where the Sun rises. It describes the physical appearance of the small earthly self, its demeanour and vitality, personality and instinctive behaviour in its encounters with the outside world.
2nd house, natural domain of Taurus, fixed Earth. This house is concerned with money earned and material goods, the way we manage them and how we earn our living, financial affairs, as well as greed and possessiveness towards people and earthly goods.
3rd house, natural domain of Gemini, mutable Air. This house is concerned with our immediate surroundings, short trips and communication, the environment, siblings, colleagues, schoolmates, primary and secondary education, apprenticeships, transportation, modern means of communication and all practical things.
4th house, IC – Inner Consciousness, natural domain of Cancer, cardinal Water. This house is concerned with emotions and real estate, as well as our origins and heredity, our family, the father and patrimony, ancestors, childhood, roots and home – the one we were born into and the one we shall one day set up.
5th house, natural domain of Leo, fixed Fire. This house is concerned with the pleasant things of life and matters of the heart, pleasure, leisure, children and other creations of body and mind. It deals with creative and recreational activities, hobbies, luck or otherwise in gambling, relationships with children in general, including our own.
6th house, natural domain of Virgo, mutable Earth. This house is concerned with everyday life, daily work and colleagues, behaviour at work, attitudes towards lower-ranking co-workers, health, medicines and minor illnesses, minor obligations, servitudes, pets.
7th house, the Descendant, natural domain of Libra, cardinal Air. Opposite the ascendant on the right hand side of the natal chart, it corresponds to the place where the Sun sets. Through the window of the seventh house we perceive those around us. It represents unions, marriages, partners, spouses, associates, contracts, associations, open enemies, other people in general and our behaviour towards them.
8th house, natural domain of Scorpio, fixed Water. This house is concerned with birth, death and other transformations caused through passions and crises, financial investments and sexuality. In this sign we learn that death does not necessarily mean death of our physical body. In the course of every lifetime the soul has to experience many minor deaths and resurrections, transformations that help us to grow and move forward on the evolutionary scale of life. The eighth also represents inheritances, money earned by other people and the way we have access to it or not, sexuality, power, an interest the occult, i.e. that which is hidden from common view and knowledge.
9th house, natural domain of Sagittarius, mutable Fire. This house is concerned with abstract and higher concepts, the realm of spirituality and religions and philosophies, long distance travelling, physical and inner ones. The ninth also represents higher education and universities, higher ideals and the understanding of abstract topics, legality and the law, and foreign matters in general.
10th house, the MC or Midheaven, natural domain of Capricorn, cardinal Earth. This house is concerned with our social success, professional destiny, career, standing in the world, ambitions and achievements, the general public, potential fame and our mother’s influence.
11th house, natural domain of Aquarius, fixed Air. This sign is concerned with collective projects and humanitarian pursuits, supports and protections in life, friendships and the nature of our friends, group activities, and the place we occupy within groups.
12th house, natural domain of Pisces, mutable Water. The house of Karma and of our own undoing, of secret enemies, difficulties and struggles in life, solitude and major inner crises, hidden ordeals and secrets, the inner self, hidden enemies, serious illnesses and places of confinement such as hospitals, prisons, convents and so forth.
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The above is a chapter from ‘The Astro Files – Technical Aspects’.
If it has whetted your appetite to read more, please follow the link below:
‘The Astro Files – Technical Aspects’
