Happy Venus day, friends! I hope your 2024 is off to a great start.
With today’s paywalled post, we’re launching a new mini-series we’ve dubbed Stargazyer School. Paid subscribers can now expect one educational piece each month about a different astrology-related topic.
To start, we’re delving into the houses, a key dimension of any and all astrological interpretations. Keep reading to learn more about this foundational concept.
What are the houses?
The houses are subdivisions of an astrological chart. There are 12 houses, each of which represents certain topics or areas of life. Every planet and point in a chart is contained in one of these houses. Additionally, every house in a chart corresponds with one of the 12 zodiac signs. That order is determined by the sign on the cusp of the 1st House, better known as the rising sign — more on that later.
For the visual learners out there, here’s a sample astrological chart (the transits at the time of writing, in case you were curious!) Each house is numbered 1–12, moving counter-clockwise from the lower left quadrant of the wheel. Note how all the planets fall within a house. Also, note how the zodiac signs on the cusp of each house — in this chart, the 1st House corresponds with Cancer, the 2nd with Leo, and so on — follow the houses in zodiacal order.
Certain planets function especially well in certain houses, too. This is called the doctrine of planetary joys.
How do you interpret the houses?
In the static context of a birth chart, the houses represent general areas of focus in a person’s life, especially if they have multiple planets or points in the same house. In transit charts, they indicate which areas of life are temporarily emphasized by a transiting planet. Astrologers rely heavily on the houses when writing horoscopes, hence why it’s so important to read horoscopes for your rising sign.
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