The First House, whose cusp is the Ascendant in most house systems, is the house of all beginnings. It shows the moment of the first breath of life (at the Ascendant.) Because its cusp is the horizon itself, this house shows the native’s horizons in life, his perspectives. It portrays a person’s outlook on the world, how the native sees the world and is seen by it. It is therefore the persona, the mask we wear so that we can protect the inner self while getting what we need from the outer world. It is the role we will play in life, and the major issues we will face in broad terms. In fact, the Ascendant shows our whole life story, in potential. Our body, constitution, appearance, complexion, facial features and even hair are said to be shown by this house (aspecting planets and lord of the house must be put into the equation.) In all questions of life and death, sickness or the general fate of the native this house should be consulted. In horary astrology it is the querent, ships at sea and all things inquired after whose location or state are unknown, and describes the situation that brings on the question. Mercury is said to be in his joy in this house.
The Second House is the House of Money. It shows the fluid and dependable resources of the native or of the issue at hand. This house describes personal possessions, wealth, and the concomitant power to influence affairs. Personal liberty is shown by this house insofar as substance brings the power to make things happen or bring desire into reality because it charts the totality of those resources which enable an individual to choose or act, or to maintain and sustain his own existence without leaning on any other participant in the social world where he finds himself. The house describes a person’s material strength and support. The term “a man of substance” portrays the meaning of this house of the material and tangible very clearly. The house shows “moveable things” and this idea gives an excellent picture of the essential barter nature of “money” itself as a social institution. The house also includes “assistance” and “reserves” that allow a person to extricate himself from any given predicament by allowing choice of alternative means. The house shows debt and credit. Gain and loss are shown by this house, in any matter at hand. Here are resources which are consumed in their use; one thing is traded for another. This house shows the self’s identification with substance; what I have becomes an extension of me and I become bound to my possessions. In Hindu astrology the Second is a house of personal death, and its lord “karaka of death,” (anareta). Jyotish also ascribes family relationships, eating habits, speech and eyesight to this house. In horary astrology it symbolizes all forms of personal wealth, fluid assets and readily available funds, debt and credit, and all things held for their value.
The Third House is the house of pure depersonalized instrumentality (things or people we commonly use in a more or less automatic way, without much thought), movement or communication in all direct forms, and personal relationships which are normally taken for granted. In this last regard it is the house of siblings, neighbors and our family members or blood relations in general apart from parents or children. It signifies tools, whether of the body or mind. It is those things which can be used to accomplish our ends without themselves being consumed or used up in the process. In the sense of tools are included inventions designed to make life easier, more automatic and consistently dependable. This house contains the “useful arts”, such as skilled work using highly developed machines, or editorial and manuscript work; that is, those things that are required to bring a project to a finished state but are not considered artistic expression. It is our immediate environment with the things in it that are available for our use. The medieval astrologers said that it signifies “change in general,” which would include the normal moving around or rearrangement of our immediate situation. “Short journeys,” or normal movement in our accustomed environment are located here. Here we may expect to find failures of routine operation or inadequacy in the taken-for-granted performance of normal and expected functions. This house embraces the infrastructure that serves us and the utilities it provides, and all other forms of “conveniences” that are normally expected to be available. The house rules conveniently available places for routine group activities, such as meeting halls, church buildings and even festivals and pageants when these are considered as community affairs. It is gatherings of the people. News, rumors and gossip are found here. In horary art, a question such as “Is the news true?” will be located here. This house also describes “personal skill” as well as the practice or rehearsal needed to keep it sharp and ready for use when needed. The Moon is said to be in her joy in this house.
The Fourth House has its origin, or cusp, at the Nadir, the point where the Sun is at midnight. It is the Dark House. At the bottom of the chart, it is the foundation and the root of all matters, what underlies any situation and what it grows out of. This house signifies the final outcome of anything, and is “the end of the matter.” It is therefore a house of death, and of our old age or latter years. It is the tomb, and rules cemeteries and graves. It is the collective unconscious (in contrast to the personal unconscious of the Twelfth), and often holds deep and fearsome things. The house shows our “heritage,” the family name, inborn and inbred traits, our tribe or clan. Medieval astrologers gave rulership of the father to the Fourth House, while some modern astrologers hold it to rule the mother primarily because of its connection with the Moon; in any case it is a parental house, and is the parent of final appeal. Inheritance is ruled by this house in the sense of money, property, or whatever has come to us from the past. The surviving influence of the past in the present is shown here. It certainly depicts the home and family, both as a child and as an adult. This house rules the actual physical residence, whether a house, a castle or a rented tenement. It has dominion over all forms of real estate or property, including estates, parks and fields. It rules the resources on and under the land, and natural resources in the more general sense as well. Note that if land is bought and held primarily as a vehicle for speculative investment, it falls under the Fifth House and not the Fourth. But real property that forms a part of the patrimony belongs to this angular house. Wells, springs, lakes and rivers are in this house, as are mines and quarries. In horary charts it is the foundation, the basement, the lowest level, what is hidden or buried. It is the direction north in question charts. In a natal chart it shows what happened very early in life and has become very deeply rooted and permanent. It shows what is private and hidden within a person. The Fourth House represents places and feelings of safety, privacy, protection and retreat. It can portray both that which in the present moment or relationship so partakes of the element of the ultimate as to be beyond change, or that which by the complexion of the total relations at issue is inevitable in the practical sense. In other words, it is both those things which cannot be changed and those which surely must change.
The Fifth House is the house of our creations. Known primarily as the house of children, it also rules the early or primary education, up to the point where education leaves off being the study of what others can teach us and becomes the exploration and deep study of the Ninth House. The Fifth is also the house of entertainment, whether given or received and includes the theater, sporting events, popular concerts and time spent pleasing the self without much concern for others. It also portrays our competitive urges and is the house of testing the self against the competitor. It is shows the demonstration and refinement, before the world, of our definitely individual capacities proved in open competition. Here is the ability to resist outside pressures and remain true to the self and its vision, values or goals. Persistence and endurance in the striving to reach what we have set as goals for ourselves is shown here. It charts a person’s “strength in resistance,” and shows the extent to which he will remain true to himself despite pressures to change his course. Ambassadors are shown by this house, that is those people who attempt to convince a third party on our behalf. We might say that the Fifth House holds those things that we love and for which we are willing to sacrifice ourselves. This house rules jewelry, amulets and such things as are worn or used for personal adornment or as signs of our stature or character. This is the house of self-discovery as we find and develop our inherent personal skills and talents. On the negative side it can show prodigal self-expenditure, ranging from dissipation to wild speculation and high-risk gambling. Toys come under the dominion of this house, as well as the things of children. It is the house of self-indulgence, and often shows sexual relationships outside the marriage.
The Sixth House essentially describes unequal social relationships where one person is obligated to serve another. It is the house of servants, employees, slaves, those who perform repairs or other services on an occasional basis, members of the armed forces and those who attend the sick and infirm as well as the infirm themselves. This house shows what we must do as our duty although we would not; it is the onerous and unpleasant tasks that one is required to carry out. It portrays the readjustments a person must make as he comes to grips with his social station. Here are the maladjustments, the things out of balance in our lives, which often manifest as sickness. It is the house of health – or lack thereof, and the things we do to recover or maintain our health including diet, rest and recuperation, exercise and other regimens, enforced or requiring self-discipline. It is training regimens, the daily practice and effort that results in skill.
The Seventh House opposes the First House. If the First House is the house of the “self” (the personality and ego complex, the body) then its opposite must be the house of the “not-self”. It is therefore the house of open enemies, all who stand against you in conflict, whose interests oppose yours. This is the house of suits at law, of war, of contests at the highest levels. But not all things which “oppose” us are inimical. The other side of this coin is that which complements our being and makes us whole. Thus this is the house of partners of all sorts. This is also the house of the spouse or any other partner of similar nature. Basically, this house shows the ability of the native to form cooperative and mutually beneficial (in conditions of equality) relationships, usually of relatively long-term. The Seventh House is also a house of death, the personal death of the native. The Sun – the Giver of Life – sets at the cusp of this house, the Descendant, or western horizon, and passes into darkness. It opposes Life at the Ascendant. This house also shows the Immediate Opportunity in any situation. The Seventh House contains contracts, and the public-at-large.
The Eighth House This house, like the Twelfth and the Sixth (and also the Fourth in some respects) was called a house of Infortune by the old astrologers. It is a house of darkness and difficulty. Being the second house from the Seventh House, it represents the money of others, and specifically that of the spouse or partner. It is money that is not readily available, such as that in trusts, endowments or escrow. The house also signifies debt and taxes. The old saying that “nothing is certain but death and taxes” applies to this house. It is the primary house of death. It signifies all things connected with death generally, such as inheritance, insurance benefits and legacies. This house shows all things concerned with elimination of the no-longer-useful or noxious. This applies to the purely physical products of the body and environment, as well as the psychic or psychological. It is the house of termination and transformation; things whose time has passed are given new form. It contains all forms of metamorphosis, typified by the caterpillar which on becoming a chrysalis dissolves before taking the form of the beautiful butterfly. The Eighth House is a place of aloneness and rejection. It is the house of “seeing beyond the veil”, and deals with things mystical and deeply hidden. It is the labyrinth. Sex and sexuality are described by this house, as are all of our deep, passionate and compulsive drives. Although this house destroys, it also transforms, heals and makes whole. The cycle of death and resurrection is eternal. The path is never easy.
The Ninth House In contrast to the Eighth House, which is a dark and unfortunate place, the Ninth is held to be the most fortunate of houses, especially in Hindu astrology. Fundamentally this house rules all operations of rationalization and intellect, all abstract thought processes, and all self-projection to a distance. It deals with generalization out of experience; that is, the formulation of generalized theories or beliefs derived from the details of everyday experience (found in the Third House). It shows all personal relations with the distant and foreign, thus has to do with travel to distant lands and trade with foreign countries. The house is expansive and broadening. It is the content, but not the paper and ink, of books containing knowledge and wisdom. This house rules religion and philosophy, and persons concerned with such matters. It is higher education and the places and people who promote it. This house rules fame (what is said about him, as distinct from the “honor” of the Tenth House, which has to do with position in life), and in the negative sense, notoriety. Because this house implies sensitiveness to larger or more remote ideas, it is the house of visions, dreams, inspiration, prophecy, and the whole psychic life in its more healthy forms; psychic maladjustment, or chaotic and formless states of mind are shown by the Twelfth because such is the result of some outer compulsion or failure of the individual to remain true to his inner self. This house rules large-scale and institutionalized means of exercising long-range control, in life and in trade, and so symbolizes the corporation (or the command center for space exploration). This house also rules publishing and broadcasting, as agencies of the general dissemination of knowledge. It is the house of creative thought in general.
The Tenth House The Tenth House, with its cusp located at the highest point in the heavens, is the House of Honor. It signifies the general recognition (by the collective) of any individual, group, or particular matter brought to consideration. As the highest of the houses it also signifies the ultimate authority in any situation, as the king, the boss, the landlord, or the head of any sort of group. It signifies efforts to gain prestige among your fellow man, or any failure to gain or hold it. It is anyone who issues orders or is entrusted to assure that the will of the group is carried out. The Tenth House designates superiority in general, and is that one of the parents to whom from the first the child yields the most necessary obedience, usually the mother. The house charts the ambition of the native, particularly in dynamic and direct relation to superiors. It is commonly called the house of profession, because it shows how or through what a person seeks to establish his place or prestige in the collective body of society.
The Eleventh House The Eleventh House shows a person’s generalized objectives in life, what the old astrologers called “hopes and wishes”. Thus, the house has a leaning toward the future. The old astrologers called this house the Good Daemon, and it is considered – along with the Ninth – the most fortunate of houses. The house also shows those people who are well disposed toward you and will assist you in the furtherance of your hopes and wishes, thus it is the house of friends and like-minded people. In Hindu astrology the house is used as the indicator of income generated through the profession (once earned, this money goes to the Second House of liquid resource). Legislation and legislative bodies are also indicated by the Eleventh, and it shows boards of directors, city councils and other such bodies. Also found here are humanitarian or public-service organizations and such other groups whose purpose is betterment of the community, and in a natal chart it shows the natives propensity to participate in such things. It is the house of “social resources.”
The Twelfth House The Twelfth House is a dark house, one of “the houses of misfortune”. It is not all bad but, as we shall see, most of the things it contains are unfortunate or difficult at best. In general, it rules things which are dark and mysterious, hidden, isolated, binding and constraining, unsuspected and confusing. It is the house of the psychologists’ “repressed contents”. It shows institutions that in general isolate a person in some way, such as hospitals, asylums, jails and prisons, monasteries, and also all things that hold a person prisoner, whether to himself or others, whether physically or psychologically. This house shows all forms of protective custody, whether voluntary or involuntary. It is the house of “secret or hidden enemies”. In this regard, the house shows the native’s set of temperament that has called forth these enmities and strengthens them. Here we find kidnapping, abduction, blackmail and behind-the-scenes activities meant to cause the downfall of the native. This is the house of self-destruction or self-defeating thought and act. It is not only the house of imprisonment, but also of the escaped prisoner, or a released or pardoned prisoner. It is both bondage and escape from bondage. Here we find the detective, the prison warden or guard, the people who operate hospitals and so on. The outcast, and chronic conditions of misery are located here. It is the house of mourning and bereavement. As the house of self-destruction, it is suicide or its contemplation, the giving way to fear, or a sense of hopelessness. It is unrealized potential. Large animals live in this house, as do ghosts from the past and demons. It should be pointed out that all the suffering shown in this house can be turned to advantage because it contributes to the building of spiritual resources and enhanced sensitiveness. Compassion grows in this house. This house holds psychological sustainment as well as restriction, shows help coming from unsuspected quarters, subconscious guidance and unexpressed devotion.
Al-Biruni in the Tahfim (1029 ME) says:
First House Soul, life, length of life, education, native land.
Second House Suckling, nutriment, disaster to eyes if over-taken by ill-luck, livelihood, household requisites, assistants, profession of children.
Third House Brothers, sisters, relations, relations in-law, jewels, friends, migration, short journeys, intelligence, knowledge, expertness in religious law*.
Fourth House Parents, grandparents, descendants, real estate, fields, houses, water-supply, knowledge of genealogy; what succeeds death and what happens to the dead.
Fifth House Children, friends, clothes, pleasure, joy, little acquisition of property, accumulated wealth of father, what was said of him at his burial service.
Sixth House Sickness, defects of body, overwork, if unfortunate accident to legs, loss of property, disease of internal organs, slaves, maids, cattle.
Seventh House Women, concubines, giving in marriage, marriage-feasts, contentions, partnership, losses, lawsuits.
Eighth House Death and its causes, murder, poisoning, evil effects of drugs on body, inheritance, wife's property, expenditure, poverty, extreme indigence, feigning death.
Ninth House Travel, religion, piety, fate, seriousness, attainment of knowledge from the stars and divination, philosophy, surveying, sharp discernment, trustworthiness, interpretation of visions and dreams.
Tenth House Rule of Sultan, government with council of nobles, absolute authority, success in business, commerce, professions, well-behaved children, liberality.
Eleventh House Happiness, friends, enemies, concern for next world, prayer and praise, friendship of women, love, dress, perfume, ornaments, commerce, longevity.
Twelfth House Enemies, misery, anxieties, prison, debt, fines, bail, fear, adversity, disease, prenatal fancies of mother, cattle, harbors, slaves, servants, armies, exile, tumults
* I find this interesting and think it deserves comment. Al-Biruni lived in a Persian Muslim society, and discussions regarding the "law" were, then as now, an important element in the social fabric (which is probably why he mentions it.) What is meant here is the Third House "letter of the law" as opposed to the Ninth House "spirit of the law." Compare the references to the Pharisees made by Jesus; they quibbled over the letter and never found the spirit. I comment on this because it may help us to see how to interpret the houses, how the houses at either end of the axes both oppose and complement each other.
The Second House is the House of Money. It shows the fluid and dependable resources of the native or of the issue at hand. This house describes personal possessions, wealth, and the concomitant power to influence affairs. Personal liberty is shown by this house insofar as substance brings the power to make things happen or bring desire into reality because it charts the totality of those resources which enable an individual to choose or act, or to maintain and sustain his own existence without leaning on any other participant in the social world where he finds himself. The house describes a person’s material strength and support. The term “a man of substance” portrays the meaning of this house of the material and tangible very clearly. The house shows “moveable things” and this idea gives an excellent picture of the essential barter nature of “money” itself as a social institution. The house also includes “assistance” and “reserves” that allow a person to extricate himself from any given predicament by allowing choice of alternative means. The house shows debt and credit. Gain and loss are shown by this house, in any matter at hand. Here are resources which are consumed in their use; one thing is traded for another. This house shows the self’s identification with substance; what I have becomes an extension of me and I become bound to my possessions. In Hindu astrology the Second is a house of personal death, and its lord “karaka of death,” (anareta). Jyotish also ascribes family relationships, eating habits, speech and eyesight to this house. In horary astrology it symbolizes all forms of personal wealth, fluid assets and readily available funds, debt and credit, and all things held for their value.
The Third House is the house of pure depersonalized instrumentality (things or people we commonly use in a more or less automatic way, without much thought), movement or communication in all direct forms, and personal relationships which are normally taken for granted. In this last regard it is the house of siblings, neighbors and our family members or blood relations in general apart from parents or children. It signifies tools, whether of the body or mind. It is those things which can be used to accomplish our ends without themselves being consumed or used up in the process. In the sense of tools are included inventions designed to make life easier, more automatic and consistently dependable. This house contains the “useful arts”, such as skilled work using highly developed machines, or editorial and manuscript work; that is, those things that are required to bring a project to a finished state but are not considered artistic expression. It is our immediate environment with the things in it that are available for our use. The medieval astrologers said that it signifies “change in general,” which would include the normal moving around or rearrangement of our immediate situation. “Short journeys,” or normal movement in our accustomed environment are located here. Here we may expect to find failures of routine operation or inadequacy in the taken-for-granted performance of normal and expected functions. This house embraces the infrastructure that serves us and the utilities it provides, and all other forms of “conveniences” that are normally expected to be available. The house rules conveniently available places for routine group activities, such as meeting halls, church buildings and even festivals and pageants when these are considered as community affairs. It is gatherings of the people. News, rumors and gossip are found here. In horary art, a question such as “Is the news true?” will be located here. This house also describes “personal skill” as well as the practice or rehearsal needed to keep it sharp and ready for use when needed. The Moon is said to be in her joy in this house.
The Fourth House has its origin, or cusp, at the Nadir, the point where the Sun is at midnight. It is the Dark House. At the bottom of the chart, it is the foundation and the root of all matters, what underlies any situation and what it grows out of. This house signifies the final outcome of anything, and is “the end of the matter.” It is therefore a house of death, and of our old age or latter years. It is the tomb, and rules cemeteries and graves. It is the collective unconscious (in contrast to the personal unconscious of the Twelfth), and often holds deep and fearsome things. The house shows our “heritage,” the family name, inborn and inbred traits, our tribe or clan. Medieval astrologers gave rulership of the father to the Fourth House, while some modern astrologers hold it to rule the mother primarily because of its connection with the Moon; in any case it is a parental house, and is the parent of final appeal. Inheritance is ruled by this house in the sense of money, property, or whatever has come to us from the past. The surviving influence of the past in the present is shown here. It certainly depicts the home and family, both as a child and as an adult. This house rules the actual physical residence, whether a house, a castle or a rented tenement. It has dominion over all forms of real estate or property, including estates, parks and fields. It rules the resources on and under the land, and natural resources in the more general sense as well. Note that if land is bought and held primarily as a vehicle for speculative investment, it falls under the Fifth House and not the Fourth. But real property that forms a part of the patrimony belongs to this angular house. Wells, springs, lakes and rivers are in this house, as are mines and quarries. In horary charts it is the foundation, the basement, the lowest level, what is hidden or buried. It is the direction north in question charts. In a natal chart it shows what happened very early in life and has become very deeply rooted and permanent. It shows what is private and hidden within a person. The Fourth House represents places and feelings of safety, privacy, protection and retreat. It can portray both that which in the present moment or relationship so partakes of the element of the ultimate as to be beyond change, or that which by the complexion of the total relations at issue is inevitable in the practical sense. In other words, it is both those things which cannot be changed and those which surely must change.
The Fifth House is the house of our creations. Known primarily as the house of children, it also rules the early or primary education, up to the point where education leaves off being the study of what others can teach us and becomes the exploration and deep study of the Ninth House. The Fifth is also the house of entertainment, whether given or received and includes the theater, sporting events, popular concerts and time spent pleasing the self without much concern for others. It also portrays our competitive urges and is the house of testing the self against the competitor. It is shows the demonstration and refinement, before the world, of our definitely individual capacities proved in open competition. Here is the ability to resist outside pressures and remain true to the self and its vision, values or goals. Persistence and endurance in the striving to reach what we have set as goals for ourselves is shown here. It charts a person’s “strength in resistance,” and shows the extent to which he will remain true to himself despite pressures to change his course. Ambassadors are shown by this house, that is those people who attempt to convince a third party on our behalf. We might say that the Fifth House holds those things that we love and for which we are willing to sacrifice ourselves. This house rules jewelry, amulets and such things as are worn or used for personal adornment or as signs of our stature or character. This is the house of self-discovery as we find and develop our inherent personal skills and talents. On the negative side it can show prodigal self-expenditure, ranging from dissipation to wild speculation and high-risk gambling. Toys come under the dominion of this house, as well as the things of children. It is the house of self-indulgence, and often shows sexual relationships outside the marriage.
The Sixth House essentially describes unequal social relationships where one person is obligated to serve another. It is the house of servants, employees, slaves, those who perform repairs or other services on an occasional basis, members of the armed forces and those who attend the sick and infirm as well as the infirm themselves. This house shows what we must do as our duty although we would not; it is the onerous and unpleasant tasks that one is required to carry out. It portrays the readjustments a person must make as he comes to grips with his social station. Here are the maladjustments, the things out of balance in our lives, which often manifest as sickness. It is the house of health – or lack thereof, and the things we do to recover or maintain our health including diet, rest and recuperation, exercise and other regimens, enforced or requiring self-discipline. It is training regimens, the daily practice and effort that results in skill.
The Seventh House opposes the First House. If the First House is the house of the “self” (the personality and ego complex, the body) then its opposite must be the house of the “not-self”. It is therefore the house of open enemies, all who stand against you in conflict, whose interests oppose yours. This is the house of suits at law, of war, of contests at the highest levels. But not all things which “oppose” us are inimical. The other side of this coin is that which complements our being and makes us whole. Thus this is the house of partners of all sorts. This is also the house of the spouse or any other partner of similar nature. Basically, this house shows the ability of the native to form cooperative and mutually beneficial (in conditions of equality) relationships, usually of relatively long-term. The Seventh House is also a house of death, the personal death of the native. The Sun – the Giver of Life – sets at the cusp of this house, the Descendant, or western horizon, and passes into darkness. It opposes Life at the Ascendant. This house also shows the Immediate Opportunity in any situation. The Seventh House contains contracts, and the public-at-large.
The Eighth House This house, like the Twelfth and the Sixth (and also the Fourth in some respects) was called a house of Infortune by the old astrologers. It is a house of darkness and difficulty. Being the second house from the Seventh House, it represents the money of others, and specifically that of the spouse or partner. It is money that is not readily available, such as that in trusts, endowments or escrow. The house also signifies debt and taxes. The old saying that “nothing is certain but death and taxes” applies to this house. It is the primary house of death. It signifies all things connected with death generally, such as inheritance, insurance benefits and legacies. This house shows all things concerned with elimination of the no-longer-useful or noxious. This applies to the purely physical products of the body and environment, as well as the psychic or psychological. It is the house of termination and transformation; things whose time has passed are given new form. It contains all forms of metamorphosis, typified by the caterpillar which on becoming a chrysalis dissolves before taking the form of the beautiful butterfly. The Eighth House is a place of aloneness and rejection. It is the house of “seeing beyond the veil”, and deals with things mystical and deeply hidden. It is the labyrinth. Sex and sexuality are described by this house, as are all of our deep, passionate and compulsive drives. Although this house destroys, it also transforms, heals and makes whole. The cycle of death and resurrection is eternal. The path is never easy.
The Ninth House In contrast to the Eighth House, which is a dark and unfortunate place, the Ninth is held to be the most fortunate of houses, especially in Hindu astrology. Fundamentally this house rules all operations of rationalization and intellect, all abstract thought processes, and all self-projection to a distance. It deals with generalization out of experience; that is, the formulation of generalized theories or beliefs derived from the details of everyday experience (found in the Third House). It shows all personal relations with the distant and foreign, thus has to do with travel to distant lands and trade with foreign countries. The house is expansive and broadening. It is the content, but not the paper and ink, of books containing knowledge and wisdom. This house rules religion and philosophy, and persons concerned with such matters. It is higher education and the places and people who promote it. This house rules fame (what is said about him, as distinct from the “honor” of the Tenth House, which has to do with position in life), and in the negative sense, notoriety. Because this house implies sensitiveness to larger or more remote ideas, it is the house of visions, dreams, inspiration, prophecy, and the whole psychic life in its more healthy forms; psychic maladjustment, or chaotic and formless states of mind are shown by the Twelfth because such is the result of some outer compulsion or failure of the individual to remain true to his inner self. This house rules large-scale and institutionalized means of exercising long-range control, in life and in trade, and so symbolizes the corporation (or the command center for space exploration). This house also rules publishing and broadcasting, as agencies of the general dissemination of knowledge. It is the house of creative thought in general.
The Tenth House The Tenth House, with its cusp located at the highest point in the heavens, is the House of Honor. It signifies the general recognition (by the collective) of any individual, group, or particular matter brought to consideration. As the highest of the houses it also signifies the ultimate authority in any situation, as the king, the boss, the landlord, or the head of any sort of group. It signifies efforts to gain prestige among your fellow man, or any failure to gain or hold it. It is anyone who issues orders or is entrusted to assure that the will of the group is carried out. The Tenth House designates superiority in general, and is that one of the parents to whom from the first the child yields the most necessary obedience, usually the mother. The house charts the ambition of the native, particularly in dynamic and direct relation to superiors. It is commonly called the house of profession, because it shows how or through what a person seeks to establish his place or prestige in the collective body of society.
The Eleventh House The Eleventh House shows a person’s generalized objectives in life, what the old astrologers called “hopes and wishes”. Thus, the house has a leaning toward the future. The old astrologers called this house the Good Daemon, and it is considered – along with the Ninth – the most fortunate of houses. The house also shows those people who are well disposed toward you and will assist you in the furtherance of your hopes and wishes, thus it is the house of friends and like-minded people. In Hindu astrology the house is used as the indicator of income generated through the profession (once earned, this money goes to the Second House of liquid resource). Legislation and legislative bodies are also indicated by the Eleventh, and it shows boards of directors, city councils and other such bodies. Also found here are humanitarian or public-service organizations and such other groups whose purpose is betterment of the community, and in a natal chart it shows the natives propensity to participate in such things. It is the house of “social resources.”
The Twelfth House The Twelfth House is a dark house, one of “the houses of misfortune”. It is not all bad but, as we shall see, most of the things it contains are unfortunate or difficult at best. In general, it rules things which are dark and mysterious, hidden, isolated, binding and constraining, unsuspected and confusing. It is the house of the psychologists’ “repressed contents”. It shows institutions that in general isolate a person in some way, such as hospitals, asylums, jails and prisons, monasteries, and also all things that hold a person prisoner, whether to himself or others, whether physically or psychologically. This house shows all forms of protective custody, whether voluntary or involuntary. It is the house of “secret or hidden enemies”. In this regard, the house shows the native’s set of temperament that has called forth these enmities and strengthens them. Here we find kidnapping, abduction, blackmail and behind-the-scenes activities meant to cause the downfall of the native. This is the house of self-destruction or self-defeating thought and act. It is not only the house of imprisonment, but also of the escaped prisoner, or a released or pardoned prisoner. It is both bondage and escape from bondage. Here we find the detective, the prison warden or guard, the people who operate hospitals and so on. The outcast, and chronic conditions of misery are located here. It is the house of mourning and bereavement. As the house of self-destruction, it is suicide or its contemplation, the giving way to fear, or a sense of hopelessness. It is unrealized potential. Large animals live in this house, as do ghosts from the past and demons. It should be pointed out that all the suffering shown in this house can be turned to advantage because it contributes to the building of spiritual resources and enhanced sensitiveness. Compassion grows in this house. This house holds psychological sustainment as well as restriction, shows help coming from unsuspected quarters, subconscious guidance and unexpressed devotion.
Al-Biruni in the Tahfim (1029 ME) says:
First House Soul, life, length of life, education, native land.
Second House Suckling, nutriment, disaster to eyes if over-taken by ill-luck, livelihood, household requisites, assistants, profession of children.
Third House Brothers, sisters, relations, relations in-law, jewels, friends, migration, short journeys, intelligence, knowledge, expertness in religious law*.
Fourth House Parents, grandparents, descendants, real estate, fields, houses, water-supply, knowledge of genealogy; what succeeds death and what happens to the dead.
Fifth House Children, friends, clothes, pleasure, joy, little acquisition of property, accumulated wealth of father, what was said of him at his burial service.
Sixth House Sickness, defects of body, overwork, if unfortunate accident to legs, loss of property, disease of internal organs, slaves, maids, cattle.
Seventh House Women, concubines, giving in marriage, marriage-feasts, contentions, partnership, losses, lawsuits.
Eighth House Death and its causes, murder, poisoning, evil effects of drugs on body, inheritance, wife's property, expenditure, poverty, extreme indigence, feigning death.
Ninth House Travel, religion, piety, fate, seriousness, attainment of knowledge from the stars and divination, philosophy, surveying, sharp discernment, trustworthiness, interpretation of visions and dreams.
Tenth House Rule of Sultan, government with council of nobles, absolute authority, success in business, commerce, professions, well-behaved children, liberality.
Eleventh House Happiness, friends, enemies, concern for next world, prayer and praise, friendship of women, love, dress, perfume, ornaments, commerce, longevity.
Twelfth House Enemies, misery, anxieties, prison, debt, fines, bail, fear, adversity, disease, prenatal fancies of mother, cattle, harbors, slaves, servants, armies, exile, tumults
* I find this interesting and think it deserves comment. Al-Biruni lived in a Persian Muslim society, and discussions regarding the "law" were, then as now, an important element in the social fabric (which is probably why he mentions it.) What is meant here is the Third House "letter of the law" as opposed to the Ninth House "spirit of the law." Compare the references to the Pharisees made by Jesus; they quibbled over the letter and never found the spirit. I comment on this because it may help us to see how to interpret the houses, how the houses at either end of the axes both oppose and complement each other.
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