Library Going deeper
Going deeper
Longer reads for when the guides have you curious. What houses really are, how to read the empty ones, where to look for purpose, and more.
What are houses in astrology? The twelve areas of life in your birth chartHouses are the twelve areas of life in your birth chart. Each one covers a different part of living: who you are, money, home, love, work, friends and so on.Finding your purpose in your birth chart Where the ruler of your 10th house sitsNo chart hands you a job title, but astrologers do have a method for reading direction and purpose. Find the sign on your 10th house, find the planet that rules that sign, then see which house that planet sits in.What is synastry? Relationship astrology that goes deeper than star signsSynastry is the astrology of relationships. Instead of asking whether two star signs get on, it lays one person's chart over another's and looks at where their planets land in your houses, and where yours land in theirs.Why a planet's sign can differ from its house's sign Houses can be wider than one signYou might see a house that begins in Gemini, holding a planet that is in Cancer. It looks like a mistake. It is not.Empty houses No planets at birth doesn't mean nothing thereAn empty house had no planets in it when you were born. Everyone has several: there are twelve houses and only ten planets, so at least two are always empty, and four or five is typical.Retrogrades When a planet seems to go backwardsA retrograde is when a planet appears to move backwards through the zodiac for a while. It is shown in the app as a retrograde label next to the planet.Angular, succedent and cadent houses The three groups of four housesThe twelve houses fall into three groups of four. Angular houses are 1, 4, 7 and 10. Succedent houses are 2, 5, 8 and 11. Cadent houses are 3, 6, 9 and 12.How to find your houses What you need, and how it is worked outYou need your date, time and place of birth. From those, a calculator works out which sign is on each of your twelve houses and which planets sit inside them.Does everyone have all twelve houses? Yes, and some are emptyYes. Every birth chart has all twelve houses, because they are twelve slices of the same sky. What differs is the sign on each house and which planets sit inside. Nobody is missing a house.Which houses matter most? Strong houses, busy houses and so-called lucky onesNo house is more important than the rest in every chart. Some houses stand out in yours, usually because they are angular, busy or tied to your Sun, Moon or rising sign. This page explains how to spot them.
New to all this?
Start with the six short guides, in order.