The 12 houses in astrology
The twelve houses divide a birth chart into twelve areas of life. The first is self, the second money, the third communication, the fourth home, the fifth creativity, the sixth daily work, the seventh partnership, the eighth shared resources, the ninth beliefs, the tenth career, the eleventh friends and the twelfth the hidden.
| Number | Twelve |
|---|---|
| Set by | Your birth time and place |
| Planets in a house | Read as that area of life gets attention |
Houses 1 to 4
The first house is self and appearance. The second is money and values. The third is communication, siblings and short trips. The fourth is home, family and roots.
Houses 5 to 8
The fifth is creativity, play and romance. The sixth is daily routine and work. The seventh is partnership, both close and professional. The eighth is shared resources, trust and deep change.
Houses 9 to 12
The ninth is beliefs, study and long journeys. The tenth is career and public life. The eleventh is friends and groups. The twelfth is the hidden, the inherited and what is done in private.
Reading a house
A house has a sign on its edge, and its ruling planet shows where its themes lead. Planets inside a house are read as drawing attention to that area of life. Empty houses are normal and are read through their ruler.
Why the birth time matters for houses
The twelve houses are tied to the horizon and the meridian of the place you were born, so they turn once a day as the Earth spins. A birth one hour later moves every house edge by about fifteen degrees, which can move a planet from one house to the next. That is why a chart without a birth time can show your planets' signs but not their houses. If you only know that you were born in the morning or the evening, a chart drawn for that range shows which planets stay in the same house either way.
House systems
There is more than one way to divide the chart into houses. Placidus, the system most Western software uses, divides the sky by the time each degree takes to rise. Whole sign houses, the oldest system, give each house one whole sign counted from the rising sign. Equal houses start at the rising degree and make every house thirty degrees. The systems agree on the rising sign and often on the planets' houses, and differ most for births far north or far south.
The angles of the chart
Four points frame the houses. The ascendant, or rising sign, starts the first house. The descendant, opposite it, starts the seventh. The midheaven, the highest point of the zodiac at your birth, starts the tenth in most systems, and the point opposite it starts the fourth. Astrologers read planets near these four angles as the loudest in a chart, so a planet close to your midheaven tends to show in your career and a planet close to your ascendant in your manner.
Houses for love and work
For love, astrologers look first at the fifth house for romance and dating and the seventh for commitment, then at the planets that rule those houses' signs. For work, they read the tenth house for career and reputation, the sixth for the daily job and the second for income. A planet in one of these houses, or ruling it, is read as a strong voice in that part of your life.
The 12 houses in astrology: questions people ask
What are the 12 houses in astrology?
Twelve areas of life, from the first house of self to the twelfth house of the hidden.
Do I need my birth time for houses?
Yes. The houses depend on the exact time and place of birth.
What does an empty house mean?
Nothing is missing. Astrologers read an empty house through the planet that rules its sign.
Keep exploring
- Your big three: Sun, Moon and rising signThe three placements astrologers read first, and what each shows.
- Aspects in astrologyThe angles between planets, and what each is read as.
- What the planets mean in a birth chartThe role each planet plays, from the Sun to Pluto.
- How to read your birth chart step by stepSix steps from the big three to the aspects.