The Twelve Houses
©2007-09 Antero Alli
Action Terms for Each House
1) ASSERTING
2) HOLDING
3) ASSOCIATING
4) DWELLING
5) PLAYING
6) WORKING
7) RELATING
8) TRANSFORMING
9) ENVISIONING
10) PROMOTING
11) SOCIALIZING
12) WITHDRAWING
Basic Textbook Definitions
1: Qualites we act out and embody as behavior. The Body and 5 Senses. Self-expression.
2: What we value. Our assets, income, possessions. How security and self-worth are defined.
3: Conceptualization. How we learn, interpret, and communicate. Siblings. Local travel.
4: What sustains us. Emotional needs. Home, family, ancestry. Our support system.
5: What entertains us. Pleasures, talents, romance. Children. Art, creativity, fun.
6: How quality of life is maintained. Employment. Health. Duties, daily chores, work.
7: Longterm relationships. Business partnerships. Who and what we attract to us.
8: Whatever triggers personal growth. Birth, sex, death, rebirth. Inheritances.
9: Whatever expands perception. Philosophy, religion, higher education. Nonlocal travel.
10: Personal & professional ambitions. Public image. Status. Career. Reputation.
11: Social relationships: friends, groups, community. Who we are in the village.
12: Solitude; retreat from external world. The internal landscape. The Subconscious.
Essences & Balance Points
THE FIRST HOUSE -- BEHAVIOR, THE BODY, PERSONAL INTEGRITY
The 1st House shows us how we react and act out of our own energy, how we behave and express ourselves, and what characterizes us. In this way, the First House also expresses the birth of ego or what sets each of us apart. First House experience is not self-conscious, planned or contrived but an expression of instinctual realities symbolized by the Rising Sign and any planets (forces) residing there. We embody the forces symbolized by 1st House planets. First House experience is about the distinct sense of our own energy and how our consciousness experiences itself through The Body's five senses. Though all human bodies are basically alike, each one also expresses highly idiosyncratic differences such as fingerprints and genetic coding.The Rising sign and planets here show us how we are typecast in our own movie and how playing out this role informs our fates; 'personality' may be modern word for fate. The First House conveys what is most personal to us.
BALANCE POINT: As we develop a distinct sense of selfhood, or ego, we are more ready to approach the interpersonal challenges of 7th House intimate relations and partnerships. When we become too full of ourselves and self-isolated, we can restore balance through making the compromises sometimes required to maintain relations with another.
THE SECOND HOUSE -- SURVIVAL, EARNING POWER, TRUE VALUES
After a basic sense of selfhood is discovered, we need assurance of the worthiness of our life to continue surviving. What is it that makes our life worth living, without which our life may not be worth living? Look to the sign ruling this House and any planets residing here for clues. The underlying essence of this House is about our personal survival criteria and how our values and our security are known and defined. Planets here can represent our personal assets, what we can count on to increase our earning power. Whatever can be earned, we can call our own, not just of money or possessions but also of other forms of currency like knowledge, talent, or power. When our lives are worth living, our survival agendas become synchronized with our core values and our sense of self-worth increases. When we discover what is truly valuable to our lives, it is only natural to hold onto it and become possessive of it. It's hard to let go of a sure thing when it's also a good thing.
BALANCE POINT: When we have become overly-entrenched in our own survival agendas, values, and security issues, 8th House experiences can offer the necessary evolutionary shocks to assure personal growth beyond our comfort zones.
THE THIRD HOUSE -- THINKING, LEARNING, TALKING, PLANNING
Once our basic values and survival needs are met, we are ready to start finding connections with those in our immediate environment. The 3rd House cusp indicates our "learning style", those conditions most supportive to our thinking and educational processes, how we solve problems and communicate our ideas with others. This is where we start “mapping” our experiences by the way we interpret and find the words to communicate them with others. We conceptualize our world by the way we think, talk and write about it. Planets (forces) residing here tend to be “chatty” by the way we think and communicate through them as 'filters'. These forces (planets) require stimulation, interaction and learning experiences to develop. The 3rd House represents the ideational and planning stages of any given project but not how they are manifested.
BALANCE POINT: When over-immersion in concepts, details, and nonstop data gathering results in a loss of perspective, we can expand our consciousness through the intuitive processes of 9th House perception and direct experience.
THE FOURTH HOUSE -- SUSTENANCE, SUPPORT, DOMESTICATION
The 4th House expresses the greatest depth of all the Houses and why its governor is sometimes called the Nadir. The Bottom. Here we can find the roots of what sustains us emotionally, and how comfort, satisfaction and nurturing is known and defined. Traditional associations of Family and Home ring true here, however, not all families and homes bring comfort and nurturance. The underlying essence of the 4th House addresses the kind of support system capable of maintaining our daily lives. Look to the governor, or Nadir, and the planets residing here for clues. The 4th House links to the genetic depths of our ancestral legacies, the family codes passed down through generations that define the clan we were born into and shaped by. How we domesticate. Then there are the deeper geomantic resonances with Mother Earth; sometimes the sign at the Nadir can indicate the type of bioregion we feel most at home in. What kind of life do we need to be living to best support the realization of the dreams, goals, and ambitions represented by the 10th House? That is the queston at the heart of the 4th House.
BALANCE POINT: Over-emphasis in 4th House experience can keep us coccooned in the house and/or overwhelmed by family guilt complexes, all of which can be counter-acted by the clarification and pursuit of our own 10th House ambitions, projects, and goals.
THE FIFTH HOUSE -- ENTERTAINMENT, ENCHANTMENT, CREATION
Once our support systems are intact and we know how to sustain and feed ourselves, it is only natural to want to get out of the house and have some fun. The 5th house defines our entertainment, what brings us to a sense of joy, celebration, and the creation of our own world. We not only create our own worlds, we also inhabit them. Traditionally related to art, romance and children, the essence of the 5th House expresses our capacity for wonder and enchantment; the Inner Child as the crown of creation. Each of us enters a creative state differently, as symbolized by the sign governing this House. Planets residing here can symbolize artistic talents and/or Muses. The mysteries of creation show us that ultimately we are not THE creators but vessels through which creation flows and manifests itself. When we forget this core truth, our ego pride inflates and eventually corrupts whatever talent we started with; an easy truth to forget when you’re having too much fun.
BALANCE POINT: Big creative egos can be balanced with the help of honest friends and others in the community (11th House) who care enough to remind us that we are not the only genius or artist in town. 11th House community-based experiences can bring a larger social context to the personal world we have created.
THE SIXTH HOUSE -- QUALITY OF LIFE, SKILL SETS, WORK ETHICS
To minimize creative burnout and dispersion, we must learn enough temperance and discipline to stay healthy. 6th House experience involveS the toil and the drudgery necessary for preserving the quality of life we have grown accustomed to or, that we strive to perfect. This is where our work ethic develops. Traditionally related to issues of Health and Employment, the 6th house can show us how effectively we manage the stresses of everyday life. The essence of the 6th House is utilitarian, showing us what kind of routines function best to serve and maintain our quality of life. The 6th house governor can indicate the employment conditions best suited to our temperament, as can the planets residing here. When Uranus, Neptune, or Pluto reside in the 6th house, our work ethic can shift away from self-interest and our personal survival agendas towards serving the survival needs of the many. Sixth house experience places us in the thick of community business processes, the hustle bustle of our time-as-money, punch-clock economic schedules and the skill sets and technologies (tools) we require to do our best work.
BALANCE POINT: When the mounting pressures of work overwhelm us, we naturally stress out and seek escape, refuge, and healing in the spiritual events of the 12th House. Where 6th House processes entangle us in the outer world of commerce, 12th House experiences draw us into the serenity of the internal landscapes of the Soul.
THE SEVENTH HOUSE -- COURTSHIPS, PARTNERSHIPS, CONTRACTS
The transition from 6th to 7th houses bridges the lower and upper hemispheres of the entire chart. Whereas the lower six houses represent stages of self-development, the upper six houses link the self to greater realities starting with interpersonal relations. So much of what passes for “relating” may actually be more steeped in self-involvement and why interpersonal relationships so often signify a difficult area of human experience. The Descendent, or the sign governing the 7th house, represents the conditions that make any relationship attractive to us and what we need to stay related with someone. The sign on this house cusp can symbolize the hidden contract of your relationship check list: what needs to be present before you are willing and able to commit long term (5th house 'romances' count as short-term). 7th house experience engages the dance of courtship and initmacy (not sex, which is more 8th House). To truly relate, we must know how to perceive the other as equal to ourselves -- as a whole person in their own right. A dynamic balance; remaining true to oneself while being aware of the other. 7th house planets symbolize the specific forces that become active whenever we engage in any one-to-one relationship: intimate, business, and/or friendship. Often times, we are most attracted to those who personify these 7th House forces until we are ready to embody them more fully ourselves.
BALANCE POINT: When we become overly-identified as "a couple" or suffer loss of individual integrity, we can restore our selfhood by embodying our Rising Sign (The Ascendent) and engaging the 1st House experiences of self-discovery and reclamation of our own personal boundaries.
THE EIGHTH HOUSE -- SEXUALITY, DEATH, CHAOS, EVOLUTION
Eighth House experiences initiate us to the extremes of our existence, opening us up to more life, to more passion, to more mystery. Sex, death, rebirth; the great mysteries of life. Sexuality as the erotic impulse of what arouses us includes all sexual acts and orientations and much, much more. Eros links us intimately with the mysteries of the cosmos, as does Thanatos or, death, which cannot be known yet can also not be denied without naivete. 8th House experiences of chaos engage us with complex and unpredictable process beyond our control catalyzing change, evolution, and personal growth in our lives. Chaos is an evolutionary trigger testing the limits of our comfort zones, our assumptions, and our perceptions with shocks to our obsolete habit patterns and routines. The sign ruling your 8th house indicates that aspect of yourself that, when integrated, can trigger real development in your person. 8th House planets represent the forces within you that may require more chaos and change just to be activated and engaged.
BALANCE POINT: When we reach a saturation point of too much change, it's natural to seek out experiences of more consistency and lasting value in the 2nd House of our daily survival agendas and returning to a more "ordinary life". The 2nd House also represents how we can stabilize ourselves in the face of any crisis or shock from the more chaotic 8th House evolutionary events.
THE NINTH HOUSE -- INTUITIVE TRUTH, BIG PICTURE VISION, BELIEFS
The sign governing the 9th house can indicate our spiritual orientation -- how we know and define our spirituality. The 9th house acts as the "altar" of the chart; planets residing here represent forces and dynamics we exalt above everything else. These forces can be activated by any experience that genuinely expands our consciousness beyond the local reality tunnels of daily mundane existence. Long distance travel, culture shock, higher education, religion and philosophy, and mind-expanding drugs are all examples of how this can happen. When consciousness expands beyond what is previously known and familiar to us, we perceive more reality. Like standing atop a mountain peak, the more reality we perceive, the bigger a picture of life we have. As this picture continues expanding, our perception reaches further until we have no words or language to communicate it. Knowing profound truths in silence can alienate us from others who do not share our vision. We form beliefs around our experiences of truth as a way to justify them, or to seek external confirmation for them, or try to convert others to our point of view.
BALANCE POINT: When 9th House experience is over-emphasized our big picture vision can crystallize into dogma and obscure such important details as communicating with others on a more human, down-to-earth level. By engaging the processes of Third House common language, we can discover the relative (not absolute) nature of our own truth as we learn to listen to the truths of others and find their associations and connections with our own.
THE TENTH HOUSE -- AMBITION, REPUTATION, MARKETTING
When we are ready to define our personal and professional goals, we need ambition to realize them. The 10th House indicates where and how ambition can be defined and implemented to fulfill our dreams and to bring our unique contribution to the world at large. Traditional 10th house terms -- “career”, “fame”, “success”, “status”, “reputation” -- all hold truth, yet what we actually have to offer the world may not fit into any known or socially-accepted profession. We may disdain the idea of fame or dread public exposure, yet everyone has something to offer. “We reap what we sow”. The cycles of agriculture show us how the seeds we plant can, with the right conditions and hard work, blossom into harvest. When the orchards drop their fruit, farmers must work over-time to bring it to market before it rots. That's ambition. Whatever sign rules the 10th house (a.k.a. the Midheaven, or MC) represents the characteristics that can, upon its integration in public affairs, help build a positive reputation. The MC also symbolizes a vulnerable point given the fickle nature of public opinion and how easily reputation can be destroyed by slander and scandal. 10th House planets symbolize aspects of ourselves on display and can indicate aspects of oneself overly-sensitive to criticism.
BALANCE POINT: When our professonal ambitions dominate our lives, it's easy lose touch with the underlying support system that made their realization possible; it can get lonely at the top. Without the sustaining power of 4th House down-time and nourishment, we can suffer 10th House burnout and worse yet, turn cold and empty on the inside.
THE ELEVENTH HOUSE -- ALLIES, COMMUNITY, GROUP-THINK
Those we share common-unity with make up our community of peers we share our fortunes with and who help us shoulder our losses. The social fabric of our lives weaves us into overlapping circles of strangers, acquaintances, friends, tribes, groups, and societies we attempt to fit into. The 11th house governor (house cusp) can indicate the qualities we seek in friendships. Planets here can symbolize the roles we portray in the village, the character we play in the collective drama. The 11th house represents the final stage of the grand astrological 12-house cycle that engages the external world of others. Here we participate in a final flowering of our life’s dreams, the friends we share that with and our humanity. How friendships are made and broken remains an essential 11th house criteria for knowing who your friends are by the pacts that bind us and the betrayals that separate us. The 11th House frames our personal processes of community-building, of how we fit into the greater scheme of humanity, and the social codes of group-think defining our tribal identity.
BALANCE POINT: When we lose our own voice in the cacophony of the tribal chorus, we can discover our own song in 5th House experiences of celebrating our unique nature and our own world by reinventing ourselves.
THE TWELTH HOUSE -- SOLITUDE, INTROSPECTION, SANCTUARY
Twelth House experience begins with the withdrawal of our attention away from the outer world -- friends, career, school, relationships, work, family, etc. -- and inwards towards the immaterial, internal landscape of the soul. It is both an escape from reality and an escape into Reality. Here we find the subconscious domain of dreams, memories and repressions. In psychological terms, the 12th House represents the depository of the Unconscious where we repress aspects of ourselves that we are not ready to face or expose to others. In spiritual terms, the 12th House refers to our need for solitude and our yearning to merge with Divinity. When we withdraw from the world to simply reflect on existence, to do nothing and to be nothing, we are entering the 12th House.
BALANCE POINT: Too much 12th House experience can flood and overwhelm the conscious ego with the complexes and unintegrated contents of our subconscious. The 6th House can help to counteract these psychological demons by making ourselves useful and in service to something greater than ourselves.
Reading Assignment #2
THE HIDDEN POWERS OF THE HOUSE CUSPS