The Twelve Houses of The Zodiac

By Alla Kazovsky –

The other day, I heard someone say: “We are our signs and we do our houses.” Hmm… What does that really mean? OK, I get it. It makes sense: if signs represent our values, interests and tastes — the twelve houses are the arenas of action. They symbolize places where we make our hardest choices. Life’s arenas. It’s where it all happens. 

As far as the physical layout of the horoscopic wheel, the houses are astrology’s way of saying whether a planet is above or below the horizon or whether it lies in the east or the west. East is on the left, unlike traditional maps. Thus, counterclockwise: the 1^st house is always a pie slice shaped section of space just below the eastern horizon; the 2^nd house always follows the 1^st, and so on around the circle. Houses hold still and the signs “spin around them.”

The twelve signs speak for our inherent qualities – Sagittarius represents openness and freedom, while Capricorn is sensibility and integrity. The ten planets symbolize the circuit boards in our heads. For instance, Venus is your urge to connect with people. Jupiter is our need for victory. Sun is the desire to find a meaningful path. Thinking, feeling, intuiting, and perceiving functions are represented by the planets. 

The twelve houses describe behavioral territories into which sign/planet combinations express their energies.

Nine of the houses are outward in their expression; three (4^th, 8^th, and 12^th) are inward.

1st House: Social identity

Establishment of personal style.

(Definition of your core being.)

2nd House: Money

This is where you prove yourself to yourself. Cultivation of self-discipline and confidence.

(Do you have what it takes? What are you capable of? Underachievement is a risk: not taking action/not climbing tall enough mountain.)

3rd House: Communication

Developing ability to see with unerring clarity. Willingness to tolerate uncertainty.

(You have the capacity to probe the world for more information verbally or intellectually.)

4th House: Turning inward

Constrained horizons of home. Richness of spiritual quest of the family life. Deeply committed stable relationships.

(Long shared story over time.)

5th House: Creative, Expressive side of life

Love affairs. Courtship & mate selection — discovery, uncertainty, kissing a lot of frogs before finding our prince. An urge to leave something tangible of ourselves in the hands of the world.

1. Fun
2. Creative vision
3. Performance

(How have you underestimated yourself here? You have talent. Trust in it. Invest in yourself. You have to play in order to win. Learn to believe in your creativity.)

6th House: Devotion + Self-sacrifice

Accepting responsibility. Attaining credibility.  Development of a skill that is of value to others. Focus on the positive.

1. Self-respect
2. Strong mind/feeling connection
3. Goal orientation

(How are you actualizing your potential and demonstrating your ability to handle life with competence?)

7th House: Marriage + Partnerships

Intimate relationships. Identification with others. Empathy. Commitment.

4. Equality between partners
5. Interdependency
6. Ability to form a stable emotional bond

(You are expected to survive changes in circumstance.)

8th House: Life philosophy

Accepting the reality of feelings arising beyond personality.

1. Awareness of physical mortality
2. Sense of invisible
3. Transcending dimensions of reality

 (Let go of logic: brave, open, trusting, you have a chance to go beyond the personal realm. Is there something ancient and unquenchable in you?)

9th House: Cross-cultural experience

Taking leaps of faith intellectually, emotionally, and physically. Confrontation with a tendency of life to become mechanical and routine. New patterns of behavior.

1. Clear sense of purpose
2. Capacity to absorb shocking unexpected perceptions
3. Life as an art that must be constantly renewed

(Take chances and embrace the encounters with unpredictable & exotic.)

10th House: Empowerment, career, status

Reputation, position in society. The way you look from a social distance.

1. Self-expression
2. Personally satisfying status in the community
3. Sense of fulfilling your destiny

(Where do you want to shine in your career? How can you find a social role that is in harmony with your inner nature?)

11th House: Friends, group associations

Identification with groups. Setting priorities. Awareness of the future as it bears upon the present. Concrete sense of direction in life.

(Establishing a network of relationships that enhance and support the realization of your goals.)

12th House: Subconscious, spirituality

Unstructured, unfocused consciousness. Events and experiences that disrupt your identification with personality.

4. Ego death: sense of the presence of God
5. Self-transcendence: freedom from worry about the ups and downs of life
6. Spiritual and psychic experiences

(Finding a peaceful place within you. Risk: dependence. Any intense, repetitious, compulsive behavior can potentially feed an unsuccessful 12^th house passage.)

Here it is in a nutshell. The twelve houses are giving biographical form to your inner life. I recently discovered Dossé-Via, who views astrology “as a tool for self-empowerment and self-understanding.” Think astrologically: the information above might inspire or prod you forward into the world. And share your successes as well as struggles with the Dooz community in the comments. Speaking of which, I am so excited to be included as a #doozstrology contributor.

– Alla Kazovsky

Remember Alla from #ADayInTheLifeA Libra edition? She's an architect and DIY Ally, as well as an enthusiastic astrology scholar and contributor to The Scope. Check out her #ADayInTheLifeA here.