The 12 Houses

The chart is a circle of 360° divided into 12 wedges called HOUSES, numbered counter-clockwise from the Ascendant (the eastern horizon at birth). Each house represents a domain of life. Houses are grouped in three: • ANGULAR (1, 4, 7, 10) — the four 'powerhouses', tied to the cardinal axes (ASC/IC/DSC/MC). Planets here are very active. • SUCCEDENT (2, 5, 8, 11) — the houses that consolidate what the angular houses initiate. About resources and meaning. • CADENT (3, 6, 9, 12) — the houses of distribution, learning, transition. Note: signs and houses are different. A sign is a 30° slice of the ecliptic shared by everyone; a house is a slice of the sky over your birthplace — uniquely yours.

HOUSE 1 — Self, body, appearance, first impression, life direction. Natural sign Aries. The Ascendant itself. HOUSE 2 — Money, possessions, personal values, self-worth. Natural sign Taurus. HOUSE 3 — Mind, siblings, neighbors, daily learning, short journeys, speech. Natural sign Gemini. HOUSE 4 — Home, family of origin, roots, the inner foundation, late life. Natural sign Cancer. Bottom of the chart (IC).

HOUSE 5 — Creativity, romance, play, children, self-expression. Natural sign Leo. HOUSE 6 — Daily work, health, routines, service, pets. Natural sign Virgo. HOUSE 7 — Committed partnerships, marriage, the 'significant other', open enemies. Natural sign Libra. The Descendant. HOUSE 8 — Shared resources, intimacy, taboo, death and rebirth, the partner's money. Natural sign Scorpio.

HOUSE 9 — Higher education, foreign cultures, long journeys, religion, philosophy, publishing. Natural sign Sagittarius. HOUSE 10 — Career, public role, reputation, the mother of one's social being. Natural sign Capricorn. Top of the chart (MC). HOUSE 11 — Friendships, communities, networks, hopes for the future. Natural sign Aquarius. HOUSE 12 — The unconscious, solitude, retreat, hidden enemies, transcendence. Natural sign Pisces.

Four points are special — the ANGLES: • ASCENDANT (ASC / cusp of House 1) — eastern horizon at birth. Your visible self, body, the mask through which you meet the world. • IC (cusp of House 4) — bottom of the chart. Your deepest roots, family soul, private home. • DESCENDANT (DSC / cusp of House 7) — western horizon. The 'other', the qualities you project onto partners. • MC / Midheaven (cusp of House 10) — top of the chart. Your public face, vocation, what you are remembered for. House systems: different mathematical methods divide the sky differently. Beginners need to know two: WHOLE SIGN (each sign = one house, simple and traditional) and PLACIDUS (default in most modern software). Their angles agree; the intermediate house cusps differ. We use Placidus in this course, as does most Western astrology software.