The Astrological houses represent the areas in your life. Each house has its own unique behavior. The key here is to exam these areas inside yourself and recognize these traits in you. The deeper you look within the more can be revealed about your true self. This will allow you to make the necessary changes to be more balanced within your self. From the book Psychological Astrology And The Twelve Houses by Noel Eastwood
The First House
House of skin, what you touch the world with, your physical, emotional, and spiritual skin.
Skin can become thickened armor to protect your sensitive self.
Your inner weaknesses are hidden within the shell of your Ascendent
Armor can manifest as aggressive, assertiveness, leadership or as condescending behavior
Dog with its tail between its legs or a dog with its head held high with because it's been treated with respect and knows its own worth
Smart and self-confident
trying to prove self worth
where you connect with the world around you
your initial unconscious, impulsive reaction when you are confronted with life events
shows how you react instinctively and without thought
freedom
What you show to the world
the mask you wear to protect yourself
your first physical and psychological impression on others
unveils all that was hidden and what you are prepared to show the world from the shadows lurking within
Psychologically, the outer assemblage of your fears, lusts, desires and emotional needs. You either project it on others in your quest to get what you need from life or it is projected on objects, work and play. (Projection is commonly seen in the 7th house, house of love and close relationships. It is in the light of the descendent that it becomes visible. It will be obvious in your relationships and how you interact with others)
Sometimes we can 'see' another person's ascendent because it is what they show us most clearly. It is what they want us to notice and what they like us to believe they are like. Once you know them very well, the person will let you see more of their inner self.
A concentration of planets in the first house shows that the native is focused on or driven to experience life as an adventure. Freedom is thoroughly appreciated.
The Second House
House of Security
Maternal security in terms of finances, your income and how you make money
Represents your possessions
Spiritual security
Beliefs, values and attitudes
emotional safety in terms of anxiety and apprehension
Attitude to making money and to the stability it brings
Financial, material, psychological and spiritual security
psychologically, can show whether your prone to emotional insecurity
the sign on its cusp and its planetary ruler will help you understand how the native handles personal insecurity, physical assault, fear of abandonment
shows personal bankruptcy and how you deal with money, whether they are cautious or careless
Represents the psychological aspects of security and insecurity
Suitable House to examine the psychological impact of the native's need to feel safe.
Some people have enormous demands for grandeur, money, power, sex, success, love or even spiritual fulfillment
House of material , psychological, emotional and spiritual needs
Like feeling safe and particularly enjoy physical comforts
get the vibe of what other people need for comfort
strong need for home security
Our immediate security needs. When we feel safe, we can find ways to deal with any challenge
loss of possessions can affect you at the soul level. If you have a strong 4th, 8th, or 12th house this becomes a personal crisis that pervades your entire being.
Second house material security issues can lead to 8th house climaxes. 8th house existential crisis can only be triggered if it is already just below the surface. 2nd House can provoke it, but the predisposition must be there first.
dominance of planets in their 2nd house are drawn to seek security.
Strong 2nd house, a stellium of three or more planets can generally survive a security crisis. Poorly aspected could swing the other way and focus attention on the negative aspects
If a 2nd house person loses everything they have, they will generally recover. But if they have insecurities lying deep within their unconscious, it could lead to a psychological crisis. The first is a 2nd house quality, the second one belongs in the 8th or 12th house.
The Third House
Shows how the native communicates and also illustrates some more negative mental activities like nervousness or an overactive mind.
represents their schooling and how they handled the stress and opportunities of their education
how they communicate, small talk, socializing, routines and habits. how they learn in general
the conscious mind
traveling-short trips from work to home, etc. as part of their daily routine.
how they relate to electrical appliances, siblings and neighbors
Many planets in the house indicates need to learn how to relax their mind
Insomnia, disturbed sleep and mental activity that is simply too much to let you fall asleep can be seen here
Learn how to unwind mentally when you have a strong third house. Physical exercise does a world of good, they can get out of their head and into their body
Many people live inside their head, they need to learn how to move from the mind to the body
progressive relaxation exercises like self-hypnosis or a meditation style that walks them through every part of their body until they are relaxed may be needed.
Getting these third house people out of their heads and into their bodies is a very efficient therapy. It helps them get some sleep too.
The Fourth House
Imum Coeli (IC), upbringing, childhood, house, home and family
First of our psychic or psychological houses (4,8,12)
allows us to look into the person's psyche through their upbringing and family conditioning
foundation of our instincts, needs and unconscious urges
indicates our father or our mother
early life, our very important psychological foundation
While the 10th house or midheaven is achievement, what we stretch up and reach out for, the 4th house is what we stand on, our foundations.
What and who we are is rooted in our childhood, the first 7 years
The psychological basis of our unconscious urges and instincts
Without strong foundations, we struggle to accomplish anything, or fail to believe that we can succeed in life
represents our emotional, physical and spiritual/psychological foundations
how we were nurtured and our ability to nurture our own children
"We are slaves to our past but the masters of our future". Our problems in life often stem from our past and can only be healed by going back there.
healing begins when we take an objective look at what happened and what beliefs were created
Physical home.
House can tell us if we are restless and need to change our home or furniture regularly
shows our instinctive reactions to life (the instincts and urges of psychology), our past lives and where we are coming from in general
shows the importance of our family, whether we need them or if we can do without and all the shades in between
It is our psychological foundations that allow us to reach up and grasp the goals and ambitions of our 10th house
If your base is strong, we feel fully supported as children, you will have no trouble reaching upwards
Unsupported throughout your childhood, then jumping up to reach for your goals becomes wrought with difficulties, if not impossible
Insecure foundations mean that you can hardly feel supported to reach anything in life.
Safe, secure and nurtured childhood leads to trusting that you are able to achieve anything
Great house for therapist to exam, there are significant clues here as to where the clients' unresolved issues began.
*Great Example of foundation Imagine standing on the top rung of a rock solid ladder. If it feels very secure, you can reach just about anything. If that ladder is feeble, unsupported and on unsafe ground, You will not feel safe going farther than the lower rungs. Insecure foundations mean that you hardly feel supported to reach anything in life.
The Fifth House
Friends, interest, hobbies and creativity
represents your individuality and your interest in expressing yourself through hobbies, sports, friendships and other activities.
Shows your sense of adventure, the books and movies you love, the kind of friends you are attracted to and the activities you enjoy.
here we can see how you like to be entertained, the sports you do and your level of commitment to all of the above.
your talents and interests in music and art- your creativity
House of casual sex, the people the native is attracted to, whether and how they flirt; the type of casual acquaintances they enjoy
Can also indicate an interest or an attitude to recreational drugs and alcohol
house of children, they, too, are the products of our creativity
can see the commitment to their children and how they raise them
shows whether they enjoy having kids around or they prefer to avoid them
house of gambling and addictions, how the native spends their money in terms of interests, hobbies and the pursuit of happiness
corresponds to Leo and the Sun is its ruler.
house of sunshine and happiness
home of optimism and by extension a positive outlook on life
can indicate how you view or deal with buoyant, happy people around you and what you like to do for enjoyment
the people who are drawn to you or whom you are drawn to and how you engage with others to experience joy and happiness
If you have an emphasis on this house, a stellium of three or more planets, it shows that you focus mostly on pleasurable and creative pursuits, sometimes to the detriment of other life experiences. In this case you could become a party animal, take up addictive habits such as alcohol, drugs, gambling or one-night stands, always in search of the next hit.
has the potential to really derange your life. But who suffers, not you. You may be completely oblivious to the damage you are doing to yourself and to others. Those hurt the most are your family and loved ones.
Can be overpowered by this house, you can become selfish and self-centered, narcissistic and controlling. Its all about you, your needs and you keep on saying, "Nobody understands me". rarely seek counseling. don't think anything is wrong with you.
The Sixth House
Health, work and service
Self improvement
house of health shows the native's predisposition to physical health, their ability to withstand illness, their inherited weaknesses and what they are susceptible to.
By looking at the sign on the cusp, it is possible to gain an idea of what the native can expect in terms of health and what advice you can give to strengthen their constitution
can indicate possible weaknesses in the physical makeup
house of determination and responsibility, how well the native is able to live up to their responsibilities. This can be seen in terms of their commitment to work and level of perseverance
House corresponds to the sign of virgo, the sign of service
Whatever appears on the cusp is measure of the native's responsibility to health, work and serving others.
shows the native's work habits, it indicates their ability to work with others, what their supervisor is like, how well they get along with workmates and their boss
shows what they are like as managers, as heads of organizations, and how they treat their subordinates
shows their attitude to work and their employees and their ability to co-operate in a group
house of pets
Psychologically this is the house of service, it acts much like virgo, serving others. we see how they do this if we look at the sign on the cusp and the planets within. Helping others is sometimes a one way street the helper may end up receiving nothing in return
born to serve, to please others, need to learn about boundaries, limits, and balance
Dominant 6th house can be so sensitive that they get pulled into relationships where they do all the giving. they don't do it to keep the peace, as a libra would do, they do it because they care, extremely difficult for these people to learn when to stop.
Natives with a dominance or focus on this house, a stellium of three or more planets, tend to serve all their lives until there is nothing left to give. When you feel empowered to stand up for yourself, your family, partners and children will initially resist and apply pressure to force you to continue as before. Or you might walk out and abandon your beloved giver.
Native needs to learn how to nurture themselves through this very difficult period of adjustment and abandonment.
The Seventh House
Marriage, lovers, romance, close relationships
house of opposites
represents the people you are attracted to in intimate ways, like lovers, partners, and deadly enemies (those you love to hate)
first house shows how you relate to yourself, the seventh house shows how you relate to others
where you project the shadow; shadow is composed of all those things, personality traits, beliefs, attitudes, values etc. that you disown like anger, frustration, love, kindness, nurturing, calmness, short temper, love of animals etc.
If we don't want to acknowledge our internalized aggression and we don't resolve them, we will experience this in our 7th house, where people will hold a mirror for us. They will express our aggression and usually beat us to it. In other words, others will always reflect the feelings and thoughts we don't want to admit, be it aggression or kindness.
7th house is not easy to understand unless we look at it as a way to understand ourselves.
Here is where we form relationships so that others push our buttons and we are forced to look at ourselves in the eye.
The more we are distressed in a relationship the more we need to look inwards and see what has to be acknowledge and resolved within ourselves
most people marry someone who fulfills some of their unconscious psychological needs. They may push their partners buttons until they leave. They refuse to look deep inside themselves and prefer to blame their partners for their own issues and their inability to manage the relationship.
Your partner is the mirror to your own psyche.
Your partner is your shadow
The cusp shows what type of person you are attracted to and how others see you as a prospective partner
shows your close friendships: intimate others, your flatmates, and partners.
your best friend is also seen here
because of the psychological nature of the 7th house, the people you are attracted to play an important role in teaching you about yourself.
Each person you relate to, even if for a single minute, act as a mirror to your unconscious urges and instincts. They all help you grow psychologically and spiritually.
Without your 7th house, you would have no way of knowing your 1st, it is your mirror in so many magical ways.
How you are seen by the public and what you give of yourself in your relationships
House of the native's guides
Each person that comes into your life is a teacher, they show you something about yourself.
You would need to be sherlock holmes to work out all the lessons you are given, because it is certainly not an easy exercise
the shadow, you experience each person and lesson from back to front, upside down and inside out
Each individual and by extension, every situation you come across, reveals something about yourself
A stellium of three or more planets in the 7th house indicates that you seek a better understanding of yourself mostly through your close relationships
someone with no or few planets here learn about themselves mostly through other situations and environments. They may explore who they are through long hard years of self discipline, dedication to a hobby, etc. These natives seek lessons that involve a support network of acquaintances.
Not everybody needs close relationships to learn their life lessons. However, a person with a loaded 7th house does. They need many close and intense relationships.
The Eighth House
The second psychological or psychic house
shows the native's dealings with other people's money as a specular or investor (or gambler), they are accountable for the money of others.
deeper psychological house akin to the 4th house
native begins to understand their self through the obstacles in their path, these are to strengthen and push them along on their quest to 'know thyself'
house of crisis, it shows where and how the native deals with climaxes of a psychological and spiritual nature
all crisis are psychological and can become spiritual when they are absorbed into the person's psyche, their lesson learned
it is an occult house indicating the level of our psychic and spiritual power
the native has innate or hidden abilities (occult, esoteric) but first they must learn how to exercise them responsibly.
if they do not master their 8th house, their power, their lessons will be painful and meaningless
We see in the case of the shaman and in other occult traditions that the initiate is trained rigorously over long years. They learn to strengthen their psyche, their will and personality to withstand the rigors of the astral plains (the deep psyche) a realm that summons them again and again. If they are able to reach old age they often become masters of their art.
it is not safe to dwell in the 8th house of the deep psyche, unless you know how to protect yourself. This is why the Taoist student and the yogi spend most of their life in training and in service of their master. This helps form their spirit to become stable, psychologically, emotionally and spiritually balanced. Otherwise, they would be broken under the demands of the 8th house.
It becomes the doorway to deeper understanding and can lead to the underworld. Sometimes this is the deep psyche of the 12th house, at other times it is pluto's underworld of the dead, the afterlife, where you will find teachers from other dimensions.
If we delve into these underworlds without suitable training or natural talent, we can easily burn out. People will do this through drugs, alcohol, or dis similar to reiki and other forms of hands on heoing advanced kundalini meditations without knowing what they are doing. I am talking about serous neurological damage, nerve damage. Neurotoxins caused by the stress in these unnatural pathways can easily damage the delicate nerves of the brain. This manifests as anxiety, dissociation, depression and even chronic fatigue.
house demands to be taken serously, it is psychic but it encompasses more than the house of the psychic or perhaps the adept and master.
the person who has three or more planets here, is someone who seeks to understand whatever they are interested in at its deepest level. They are not into anything superficial, they only go for what is profound and meaningful. Others might find them quite boring, and they themselves have little patience for chit chat.
must be remembered that (psychically) sensitive people spend a lot of their time in the unconscious world. Many develop anxiety problems, hangups and often experience serious difficulties handling personal relationships.
chart with a focus on the 4th, 8th and 12th house should be encourage to take up meditation, tai chi or yoga or some other form of mental discipline. This is how they can bring out their innate psychic abilities without burning out psychologically.
Find a therapist or counselor who knowledgeable in this area, who can help you develop specific strategies to manage and fully engage your psychic ability.
house of kundalini and sexuality. this can manifest as passion and sexual intensity, driven to experience the thrills in life, particularly sexual orgasm. When kundalini rises to orgasm, it explodes in a magic rush of whole body pleasure. This is very serious sex, definitely not casual, there must be commitment, depth and passion. Here sex is powerful, not necessarily fun at all, it is taken as a serious expression of self.
sexual act can be enhanced by learning specific tantra techniques that bring the person's life force under control for prolonged orgasm and to leave their physical body for out of body experiences.. Tantra is designed to train the flow of sexual energy. This becomes part of the native's transformation, helps them rise to other levels of existence.
House shows how the native transforms illness to health.
Place for the reproduction and regeneration of tissues and cells for healing. Chi or prana is developed over many years of hard disciplined training, and the masters demonstrate how chi helps the sick heal. this is similar to reiki and other forms of hands on healing.
represents death and rebirth, transformation and evolution of the spirit or soul
Healers may learn to use this same energy by going into the cave of the 8th house and meditate.
encourage astral travel and out of body experiences
The Ninth House
philosophy, higher learning, travel, morals, law and religion
Shows what we need to handle the stresses of 8th house and transformation
native seeks more education, a solid grounding in philosophy, world travel to discover spiritual interest
tendency to study into adulthood and beyond
provides life-long education to build the foundation of understanding ourselves through the teachings of others
we need mentors to help us 'see' ourselves, this is why we study to gain that knowledge
after being educated seek professions that help practice and refine skills. This can be in law, morality and religion, philosophy, astrology, psychology. Anything that stimulates the mind and illuminates our path and that of humanity. Eventually may become eternal spiritual quest.
ultimately the house is our pursuit of spiritual enlightenment
place of higher learning, together with other areas of chart, we use it to form an image of the native's spirituality
house of education, shows how knowledgeable the native wishes to be, especially in terms of common sense and whether they want to continue their studies
travel to gain insight and wisdom. gain wisdom and experience life by visiting far away places
looking at the sign on the cusp and nay planets within we fathom the aptitude for higher learning, morality and wisdom or the lack thereof
Focus on this house by a stellium of three or more planets suggests that the person has also taken on some of the qualities of of the corresponding sign, sagittarius and its ruler jupiter. Their mutable fire energy is easily ignited and they want to engage in the adventure of the chase. often party all night long. may resort to mind-altering drugs and other exciting and unorthodox methods on their spiritual quest. This might include religious practices such as whipping, self-flagellation, dancing, abstinence, fasting, pilgrimages or the contemplation on religious texts.
Psychologically, this is the house of wisdom and morality, as well as the narcissistic party animal and the criminal.
The Tenth House
midheaven, medium coeli (MC), career, ambition, success, what and how we strive to achieve
shows the direction the native is heading, their purpose and their ambitions
house and midheaven are the same except for a shift in emphasis.
When we refer to this house as midheaven, we primarily think of direction, and when we refer to it as the 10th house we mainly think of ambition and achievement
midheaven is what we are reaching up towards. requires good and strong foundations (4th house) to achieve greatness otherwise the native needs to draw upon other factors like the 9th house of education or the 7th house of a supporting partner, or perhaps their 1st house of natural talent and a solid constitution.
10th house shows the native's appearance in the public eye and the sign on its cusp tells us about how they are seen and how the public feels about them.
shows the type of carer they are driven towards and whether they take on a public or private profile.
house is visible directly above our heads and acts like a beacon or light.
planets aspecting or touching the midheaven take on greater importance and are often the most powerful planets in the chart.
look upon the midheaven as a light shining down upon the rest of the psyce and you will begin to understand its significance and power.
house of authority and whether the native bows down to authority figures or is a rebel. indicate how they handle being told what to do by someone in a position of authority. leadership potential, what style of leader they may become and their ability to work with others in a supervisory role.
show whether they are able to make their own breaks in life or they need to be pushed and shoved along to get ahead.
house of the strong or disciplinary parent. the parental figure who helped the native strive to achieve their best.
sign on the midheaven shows where and how the native seeks to succeed, to get ahead in life and their drive to survive.
always look for planets in the 10th house, as this gives you some clues as to how much they put into their therapy and recovery.
The Eleventh House
humanity, compassion, empathy, intuition, hopes, dreams and wishes
not easy to define
involves our unconscious urges and instincts as they rise to enter our conscious world to manifest change for the good of humanity. This manifests as hopes for ourselves and for others, how we go about realizing our dreams of improving humanity and what we wish for others.
shows the organisations we join to improve ourselves and make the planet a better place
our attitudes to wards humanity and the earth as a living entity, our dreams, fantasies and our contributions to their realization in our lifetime
social house and can see how the native socializes and what sort of people they are attracted to when they want to see the bigger picture.
house is the bigger picture, it is not a personal house
shows the native's ambitions (or their lack) for the greater benefit of humankind and nature.
humanitarian interests are shown here, as well as their ideals for the improvement of the world as a whole.
psychologically, this house is also difficult to understand.
loaded 11th house with a stellium of three or more planets, and the person seems to be thoroughly engaged in external activities and organizations. driven to help and be part of the committee, but can become a form of intellectual distraction. If they get busy enough, they can avoid facing how their own world is falling apart.
Focus on the 11th house is not at all a psychological problem. The problem arises when they have psychological or emotional issues that they refuse to deal with.
11th house is where some people escape from their emotional reality
generally quite intelligent, focused and motivated to help, but their air traits make them prone to avoid reality.
often great conversationalists, knowledgeable, charming and keen to learn how to help themselves
respond well to relaxation, enjoy solving problems and they are happy to discuss what is really going on in their lives. What works best is to let them talk about their interest, they need to be heard.
The Twelfth House
dissolving in the deep unconscious
house is totally subconscious and shows us how the native copes with emotional and psychological stress and whatever the native wishes to suppress from consciousness. this is the abode of those skeletons in the closet that psychotherapy attempts to bring into the open. generally do anything to keep them locked up because they are too frightening, like nightmares. In extreme cases of anxiety, they can push the person over the edge.
can be likened to incarceration, imprisonment or institutionalization, wrongly or otherwise. house experience is that of being trapped or imprisoned, particularly if the native is not comfortable with the affairs of the house
house can indicate the person's weaknesses that compel them to run away from life, but it can also reveal their power which allows them to meet the world and overcome pain and suffering.
signs on the house cusp and any planets within indicate how the native copes with life, how they express themselves from a spiritual perspective and whether they can communicate their wisdom
can show the emotional honesty of the native, whether they run away from responsibility or they express their innermost self honestly and openly once they have dealt with their 12th house issues
psychic effect on the house is seen when the natives's conscious and subconscious selves are balanced. Without this the house psychic begins to channel their own subconscious issues and fantasies. When balanced they are in tune with their higher selves and that of others.
best way to deal with this house is to meditate or at least learn some discipline that forces you to deal with your innermost fears.
Natives with strong 12th house have powers beyond mere mortals, but they first need to come to terms with this before they can use it constructively. Such a person will often end up in psychological distress if they don't undergo the necessary training. There is nothing pleasurable about experiencing frightening nightmares every night.
house of the deepest unconscious, the third psychological house, it is dangerous to enter for those untrained. can be a source of psychological discomfort for most natives who have personal planets here. these people are best directed to attend counseling, , practice tai chi, yoga or some other grounding meditation. one of the best things these natives can do for themselves is to learn how to earth or ground themselves.
There is a saying "the psycotic drowns in the same waters in which the mystic swims with delight". The mystic or adept can move safely and freely in their inner world. The psychotic or dabbler who has not learned the discipline of living in the unconscious is at risk of drowning. Especially so if they rely on drugs to open the doors of perception.
If you look at the 4th and 8th houses, you will see the progression of psychological and spiritual development. they form the three houses of psyche, spiritual evolution and karma.
psychologically, this is a power house
Many people have the 12th house highlighted through a planetary stellium and its role is to dissolve consciousness and get ready for the next evolutionary phase. This may be why it is so hard to work with planets here. The meditator has to go so deeply within to find those hidden gems that they are tempted to just dissolve into nothingness or They get through life and they have developed their own ways to manage.
sometimes these people escape into their 12th house through drugs, alcohol or prescription medication. Many live alone, deliberately isolating themselves from others. This way they can manage the comings and goings in their life much better. It is a way of taking command of their life. It reduces their contact with people who are generally their main stressors. These are the people who spend long periods of time in their deep unconscious.
house focus aren't afraid to talk about their problems or even do some in depth therapy, but they get exhausted quickly, sometimes it strains them too much to commit to ongoing therapy.
can resort to hiding more than others. Dreaming and escaping , avoiding other people is so much safer and uses less energy than any other form of therapy.
natives use so much of their psychic energy just to cope with and manage daily life, that they become exhausted.
Those who can swim in these waters are the masters of life. They need a lot of support though to stay engaged and avoid escaping into addiction or running away to isolate themselves.
Masters of the house tend to have good support networks. Secure relationships become the gatekeepers to the outside world. This guards against disruption in their lives. Sentinels protect the 12th house master from stressful people and situations. This is probably the best scenario for a dominant 12th house person.
Find someone you trust to manage your affairs while you take up meditation, religious studies, painting, music or writing.
Planets try to resolve psychological issues of the past in the 12th house before entering the 1st. It is as if they needed to let go of their baggage and get ready for a fresh start in a new cycle.