No astrology reading is of much use without an examination of the houses in a horoscope.  But what is meant by “houses” and what do they mean to believers in astrology?

What the houses mean

Modern astrology charts are circular in shape and split into twelve parts. Each of these parts is called a house. The total number of degrees of all houses is always 360 degrees, the same as the degrees in the twelve signs of the Zodiac. Yet while there are always 30 degrees to each zodiac sign, there aren’t always as many degrees assigned to each house. That depends on how an astrologer prefers to divide charts through what’s called a house system.

Each of the twelve houses is concerned with specific matters in a person’s life. To name some of the most common according to all books on astrology:

1. Outer personality.
2. Money and possessions.
3. Brothers and sisters.
4. Home.
5. Romance, children and amusement.
6. Health routine and service.
7. Marriage and enemies.
8. Death, loans and joint finances.
9. Journeys and education.
10. Career.
11. Friends and hopes.
12. Secret enemies, solitude and illness.

Houses and forecasting

As the planets make their cyclical travels around the Sun, they “visit” each of the twelve houses in a person’s birth chart. During such time, the visiting planet is believed to influence the part of life ruled by that house. For example, whenever Mars visits your tenth house (career) you are apt to be more aggressive at work than usual, getting more work done but also likely to be more quarrelsome and accident-prone.

Houses and compatibility

Houses are also important in relationship astrology.  When lovers or partners are compared for compatibility, each partner’s planets appear to “visit” the houses of the other partner’s birth chart, much like in forecasting. This interaction helps explain how and why couples respond to and affect each other as they do.

Conclusion

To study houses, the birth time must be known. This is because the positions of the planets in the houses are determined by the time of day.  Before you would have needed an astrologer to calculate your houses for you. Now you can download astrology software and compute it on your own in a split-second. If the software comes with reports, it will interpret the house meanings for you as well.