Next up on the blog, I’m diving into understanding Astrology Houses and their meaning. Just as important as understanding the archetypes of the signs & planets we need to understand Astrology Houses what it means when a planet falls into or a planet transits a particular house.
Understanding Astrology Houses
In this blog, I’ll be focusing on the 1st-6th houses known as the personal houses.
It’s worth mentioning that I’ll be discussing the highest level interpretations of the houses but there are a lot of nuances and specific applications that you can explore once you understand Astrology houses.
If you would like to learn more about the meaning of the astrology houses and the basics of astrology opt-in to my free guide below and if you need help creating your astrology chart with houses check out the video in this blog.
An Introduction to the Houses in Astrology
The houses in your birth or natal chart are number in the centre of the chart from 1-12. The house is the specific aspect of your life that is affected by a natal planet placement or transiting planet. Understanding Astrology Houses is easy when you use a graphic like the one below!
The Astrology Chart with Houses
At the moment you were born, the planets were all in specific signs and houses. Since the Houses rotate every 24 hours, it is essential to use your correct time of birth when calculating your chart. The Houses also shift every four minutes, so even individuals born on the same day will have radically different natal charts depending on whether their birth time was morning or night.
When planets visit a house (transit), they light up that part of your chart, and energize that house’s traits. Astrologers use the houses to predict which parts of your life will come into focus, and where you can take the best possible action.
The First House
The First house is all about your ‘Self’ including your outward appearance but also your personality. It sits on the Ascendant or Rising Sign which is all about how others see us – how we show up in the world.
The first house is ruled by the Planet Mars and the sign Aries. It’s kind of a selfish house – it’s all about YOU!
It is also relevant to our early childhood so think about how the sign your first house is in relates to your early childhood experiences.
Any planets in this house will play a very significant role in your personality – they are literally part of who you are.
Take a look at the sign(s) and planets in your first house and how this might reflect your identity and sense of self as well as how you appear to the world.
My 1st House is one of the busiest houses in my chart. It starts in Virgo but all my 1st house planets are actually in Libra.
In my first house, I have Jupiter & Saturn conjunct (very close to each other), Pluto and Venus right on the cusp of the 1st/2nd house.
Jupiter & Saturn conjunct in my first house is very significant to how I show up – literally with my yo-yo weight – expand (Jupiter) and contract (Saturn) as well as not so literally but my tendency to expand in my work or life and then feel a need to contract back into safety again.
When reflecting on my 1st house from the perspective of early childhood it makes me think about the element of Fairness in Libra. I was one of five children and my parents were always very focused on things being equal. No-one got what someone else didn’t. Whilst I understand this approach I think it also limited our ability to express as unique individuals because there was always the issue of well your sister didn’t get that so you can’t or your sister went to choir so you will too (nevermind I didn’t like singing!).
Pluto in my first house also reminds me of how my house literally burnt down when I was 8 years old – now that’s a literal transformation of my early childhood experience!
Let’s keep going understanding Astrology Houses!
The Second House
The second house rules your ‘Resources’ – how you create money and other assets and resources in your life. The sign and planet in this house will tell you more about how you feel about money and material possessions.
I always think a strong 2nd house is an important indicator of an entrepreneurial signature. So much of our drive and ability to create resources and money out of an idea can be seen in the 2nd house. I think the 2nd house is in many ways more important to entrepreneurs than the 10th house of career or the MC career line.
The 2nd house can be a good indicator of your finances, how you approach money – spending and saving and also your sense of self-worth.
The 2nd House is ruled by the planet Venus and the sign Taurus.
Take a look at the signs and planets in your 2nd house and reflect on how this might relate to how you generate resources such as money and your entrepreneurial strengths.
Most of my 2nd house falls in Scorpio. This brings an intensity to resources and money in my life.
Money and resources for me involve deep healing and empowerment and my 2nd house and 8th house are very much linked with Chiron (the wounded healer) in the 8th and Mercury (the messenger) in the 2nd in opposition to each other.
Having Mercury in the 2nd brings a deep focus on speaking, writing and teaching in what I do to create resources and earn a living but it is of the deep, intense Scorpio variety.
I also have Uranus in the 2nd house which I have talked about before as bringing Sudden Change and unpredictability in the world of my finances.
Over the last few years, I’ve been trying to tame my business and personal finances and my husband and I have made a lot of progress so that now the unpredictable lows don’t impact as much and the unpredictable highs can be enjoyed – yes please!
Uranus in the 2nd can indicate that you will earn money in a non-traditional way, often from modern technologies and you’ll want to have a lot of freedom and do things your way! It’s absolutely an entrepreneurial signature.
Instinctually I can tend to live on the edge with my finances in a very Uranian way, even if there is not lots of money in the bank and chasing the next launch’s income – trusting that there is always more where it came from.
The Third House
The Third house rules your Communications – how you communicate, learn and process information as well as your social life. It can also provide information about your early education and how you relate to technology.
This house also relates to your siblings, close distance travel and local community.
The sign and planet in this house will tell you more about how you communicate with others and how important communication is to you.
The 3rd House is ruled by the planet Mercury and the sign Gemini.
Take a look at your chart and see which sign your third house is in and any planets you find there – what might the archetype of this sign mean about your communications and other domains above?
My third house falls in Sagittarius. My communications and learning style is very much about travel, exploration and the search for meaning. I tend to be very philosophical about life and I lose my sense of creativity when my natural desire to travel is limited.
My sun is also in the third house meaning that communication and learning is quite literally part of who I am and who I am striving to be. I love to learn and share knowledge so it’s no surprise that having a learning-based business and working in training and learning fields is what I gravitate towards.
With Neptune in the 3rd house, I am very tuned in to my intuition and higher communication. I’m an empath and sense energy before (or despite) the words are said. I pick up on the hidden nuances and read between the lines!
The Fourth House
The Fourth house rules your Home, Family and Ancestry. It can give you clues to your parents, grandparents and even further back. It helps you to understand your approach to, and feelings about, home.
The 4th house is about your youth, your origins and your most nurturing parent and the sign and planets in this house will tell you more about what a sense of home means to you.
The 4th House is ruled by the planet Moon and the sign of Cancer.
Take a look at your chart and see which sign your fourth house is in and any planets there – what might the archetype of this sign mean about your sense of home and ancestry?
My fourth house is mostly in Capricorn with a little bit of Sagittarius.
2 out 4 of my siblings are Sag’s and my father travelled a lot for a living. As a family, we all adore to travel, are quite philosophical, and value expanding our minds.
But home and family life was also hard, without saying too much it was (at times) traumatic, stressful and sad. Homelife has often felt hard and challenging to me.
We were brought up to be independent and responsible – very Saturn/Capricorn.
I have Mars in my 4th House, this can often relate to an angry (Mars god of War) father which I absolutely had. Mars in Capricorn brings extra emphasis to what I feel about my family life being hard – almost like a battleground.
My family love a “debate” but sadly the lines often become blurred and boundaries stepped over from debating to fighting to traumatising.
My parents were loud fighters, what some might call “passionate” I’d just call dysfunctional and damaging.
But they are still together and I do have a level of respect for that Capricorn responsibility and never giving up.
Whenever I am “fighting” the good fight in my family to be the pattern breaker, to make things better for me and my kids I like to imagine generations of my family standing behind me, loving me, supporting me and cheering me on.
The women proud of me for giving my girls something better and being strong enough to expect more and the men also proud yet sad and regretful at how their behaviour led to this. They know I am doing what must be done.
They are all behind me and their energy makes me stronger.
The Fifth House
The fifth house is all about pleasure, creativity and also children particularly your first child. It can also tell us something about our children – or the decision not to have them.
It is also about casual sex, affairs, self-pleasure.
It is about finding our creative expression, hobbies, fun and doing things just for the love of it.
The fifth house is ruled by Leo and the Sun.
Take a look at your chart and see which sign your fifth house is in and any natal planets there – what might the archetype of this sign mean about your sense of fun, pleasure and creativity?
My fifth house is almost equally in Capricorn & Aquarius with no natal planets.
When I think about this I reflect that having fun and experiencing pleasure has always felt kind of hard for me (very Capricorn) like I had to work at it.
With my kids, I was great at the baby phase where they just needed nurturing and cuddles (Moon in Cancer) but I find the stage of playing games with them challenging as I don’t feel “fun”.
When I think of the Aquarius aspect I think about how what I get pleasure from is quite independent and solo orientated like learning and expanding my mind and even travelling on my own. I can’t get enough alone time.
I currently have Saturn and Pluto over my 5th House with a major Pluto square Pluto transit involving the 5th House. So even though I have no natal planets here it’s a good example of how transits can activate houses that seem ignored in your natal chart!
The Sixth House
The sixth house is all about your daily work and health routines – the things you do (or should do!) every day.
It is about the vitality of your body, how you earn money (your day job), health, healing, well-being and daily routines.
Ruled by Virgo (of course!) and Mercury the sixth house gives you grounding in life.
Take a look at your chart and see which sign your sixth house is in – what might the archetype of this sign and any natal planets there mean about your daily routines (or lack of!)?
I don’t have any planets in my 6th house but I think the fact that I am a Virgo rising means that I still have a strong sense of routine and structure in my life.
My 6th House is a mix of Aquarius and Pisces – this makes me think about needing a sense of freedom or being somewhat unconventional and soulfulness or spirituality in my day to day routine.
I currently have Neptune over my 6th house (Ruler of Pisces) which is interesting as over the last 8th months or so I made the decision to take on a role in corporate as well as run my business – this has meant all sorts of changes to my daily routine and reprioritisation of what I do and when.
I feel like Neptune over my sixth house brings a sense of confusion over my day to day life and a push and pull between my corporate work and my business soul work. I have to stay connected to my vision and inner knowing so that I can see the bigger picture.
Part of what helps me right now is spending an hour each day writing the modules for my new astrology program and the start of my astrology academy!
I hope you have enjoyed understanding astrology houses in this blog, below you’ll find another handy graphic that you can pin to your Pinterest account to refer to.
Understanding Astrology Houses – the Personal Houses
What’s next?
In the next blog, I’ll continue to explain the astrology houses—the interpersonal houses (7-12)—but for now, if you would like to learn more about Astrology, opt-in to my free Astrology Basics Guide.