Astrology has lots of different points to decipher, from planets to asteroids, fixed stars to midpoints, various charts, and more, and one of the most important to understand are the astrology houses. What are the astrology houses?
There are 12 houses in astrology, and each rule a different part of your life and personality. There are a variety of ways of calculating their exact positions in the Zodiac, and these are called house systems. The most commonly used in the West are Placidus, Koch, Equal, and Whole Sign (if you use astro.com for creating charts, Placidus is their default).
The houses are also divided up by house type: angular, succedent, and cadent. The angular houses are the 1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th houses, and are connected to the cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn). Their keyword is action. The succedent houses are the 2nd, 5th, 8th, and 11th houses, and are connected to the fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius). Their keyword is fixed. The cadent houses are the 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th house, and are connected to the mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces). Their keyword is adaptable. You'll first and foremost focus on the sign the house cusp falls in (the cusp of a house is the very beginning of that house). You'll then see if there are any planets in the house. Houses that have multiple planets tend to get more attention from you and play a bigger role in your life, while empty houses usually mean there isn't much for you to work out with it in this life (less baggage). You can also take a look at the natural ruler of the sign on the house cusp in your natal chart and get some further insights (the sign and house location of the ruler in your natal chart can tie into the house). What do the houses mean in astrology?
Each house has rulership over different parts of you and your life. Let's do a rundown of each astrology house:
1st House Astrology: House of the Self
The 1st house governs you overall, and shows your outer self. This is the face you put out into the world, and it's the way people see you. We tend to play up the positives of the sign on the 1st house cusp so we can put our best foot forward. Planets in the 1st house can also be apparent in your outward personality. This house is naturally ruled by Mars and connects with the sign of Aries.
Go to the 1st house page >>> 2nd House Astrology: House of Finances
The 2nd house governs your money, and can show both how you make and spend money. This is your own money rather than the money impacting others (8th house). This house also shows your values, and what impacts stability and security in your life. Planets in the 2nd house can impact your financial life, values, and confidence. This house is naturally ruled by Venus and connects with the sign of Taurus.
Go to the 2nd house page >>> 3rd House Astrology: House of Communications
The 3rd house governs your communication overall, showing how your mind operates, how you connect with your immediate environment and engage. This house rules your siblings, neighbors, and young people, and your younger/primary years of learning (not advanced learning). Planets in the 3rd house can impact your communication and learning abilities. This house is naturally ruled by Mercury and connects with the sign of Gemini.
Go to the 3rd house page >>> 4th House Astrology: House of Home & Family
The 4th house governs your home and family life, the ones you're born into and the ones you create as an adult. It shows what you want/need at home and from family, and your roots. This house also shows your internal foundation. Planets in the 4th house can impact your home and family life and foundation. This house is naturally ruled by the Moon and connects with the sign of Cancer.
Go to the 4th house page >>> 5th House Astrology: House of Love
The 5th house governs love, both who you love (and date, as well as your children) and what you love (your hobbies). This house is a creative house and focuses on the lighter side. Planets in the 5th house can impact your hobbies, your love life, your children, and your creative side. This house is naturally ruled by the Sun and connects with the sign of Leo.
Go to the 5th house page >>> 6th House Astrology: House of Work
The 6th house governs your work life and environment, and can show your approach to work and the kind of jobs you have. This house also rules your daily life, routine, and health, and your approach to them. Planets in the 6th house can impact your work life, daily life, and health. This house is naturally ruled by Mercury and connects with the sign of Virgo.
Go to the 6th house page >>> 7th House Astrology: House of Relationships
The 7th house governs your relationships in general, and the people in your life. It can show how you approach relationships, partnerships, and commitment, and what you want and need from others, the kind of people you attract, and what you're willing to give. Planets in the 7th house can impact your relationships and the people you encounter. This house is naturally ruled by Venus and connects with the sign of Libra.
Go to the 7th house page >>> 8th House Astrology: House of Shared Resources
The 8th house governs your shared finances and resources, so the things that don't only impact you (debts, loans, inheritances, taxes, joint finances, business partnerships, etc.). This house also governs your darker side, what you hold deep inside, and transformations. Planets in the 8th house can impact your sharing ability, your approach to transforming, and what you hold inside. This house is naturally ruled by Pluto and connects with the sign of Scorpio.
Go to the 8th house page >>> 9th House Astrology: House of Higher Learning
The 9th house governs higher learning, so the learning you do beyond the basics (colleges and universities and specialized learning). This house rules expansion, so this can be expansion of the mind through learning, or through life experience and travel. It also rules your beliefs. Planets in the 9th house can impact your beliefs and ability to expand or what you need space with. This house is naturally ruled by Jupiter and connects with the sign of Sagittarius.
Go to the 9th house page >>> 10th House Astrology: House of Goals
The 10th house governs your goals in life, which usually is professionally and the career you have. But this can be any goals, anything that you strive for in life. This house rules your responsibilities, status, and public image. Planets in the 10th house can impact your career and goals, your life direction, responsibilities you have, and the image you try to present. This house is naturally ruled by Saturn and connects with the sign of Capricorn.
Go to the 10th house page >>> 11th House Astrology: House of Dreams
The 11th house governs the dreams you have for your future and what you hope for in life. It also rules your friendships and groups you belong to, the causes your champion, and the changes you focus on. This house is highly independent and unconventional. Planets in the 11th house can impact your dreams, friends, causes, and independence. This house is naturally ruled by Uranus and connects with the sign of Aquarius.
Go to the 11th house page >>> 12th House Astrology: House of the Hidden
The 12th house governs what you hide, your subconscious mind, your spirituality, and your karma. Energy associated with the 12th house is often hidden in your subconscious, and planets in the 12th house usually manifest subconsciously, or show baggage that needs to be released. This house is naturally ruled by Neptune and connects with the sign of Pisces.
Go to the 12th house page >>>
So, there's your quick rundown of the astrology houses! You can look up the general interpretations for them by sign and for planets in each house and get information about what they mean for you. Happy learning!
Suggested reading: Pisces Houses: Where You Trust Your Gut 
The basics: What is Mercury retrograde?
A retrograde occurs when a planet appears to be moving backwards from our vantage point here on Earth. It isn't actually moving backwards, it just appears that way. Mercury turns retrograde most often, about 3-4 times per year, and lasts for several weeks. When a planet retrogrades, what that planet rules tends to be thrown off, along with what the sign it's retrograding in rules.
With Mercury retrograde, we experience a shadow and a storm. The shadow period starts when Mercury first hits the point in the Zodiac it will turn direct at, and ends when it last hits the point in the Zodiac it will turn retrograde at. Most people don't feel the effects of Mercury retrograde until it enters the storm period though. The storm period of Mercury retrograde is when Mercury is moving at its slowest, less than 40 minutes per day. Mercury is a fast-moving planet and hates it when he's moving slowly. There's usually two storm periods, one around the time Mercury turns retrograde, and one around when it turns direct. Mercury Retrograde in Scorpio 2019 Dates:
Mercury Retrograde Effects:
Mercury madness! We have the last Mercury retrograde for 2019 starting on Halloween, and fittingly in dark Scorpio. Scorpio is an intense, emotional sign, and Mercury retrograde in Scorpio can bring out extra rage, hostility, pent up aggression, and hatred. Anything that we've been holding back on can explode out now. Watch where you blow!
Scorpio is ruler of transformations, and that can be a positive effect of Mercury retrograde in Scorpio. Focus on something you've been avoiding for a long time, and work to transform it for the better. Dig deep below the surface so it's something that lasts, and you can gain greater understanding about it. Scorpio rules power and control, so we can take the opportunity to have more power and control in our lives. But we have to be careful we don't become controlling and fight others too much, wanting to dominate. That can become destructive! Scorpio is ruler of "other people's money" - taxes, debts, loans, inheritances, joint finances, business finances, etc., so there can be extra focus on issues revolving around money that impacts others. Mercury retrograde in Scorpio is notoriously challenging for the stock market - so maybe invest very conservatively! With erratic Uranus now in opposing sign Taurus, ruler of our own money, this retrograde period is one I've had my eye on for potential financial trouble, so watch it! Intimacy is governed by Scorpio, so old lovers can come back around, and issues around intimacy or sex may arise. It's a good time to work on blocks and improve the way in which you connect on a deeper level with those you care about. The Start of the Mercury Retrograde in Scorpio:
The retrograde begins with Mercury conjunct (aligned with) Venus in Scorpio (and this actually goes exact the day before, on October 30th at 6:05PM ET). This can help us come together and try to find some common ground, BUT it may also make us more frustrated with one another, more maddened by the way others behave, especially if it's tactless. Moderation may also be difficult to find, and we may become obsessed with something. Like chocolate!
The trouble spot: Full Moon in Taurus
A big trouble spot during this retrograde is going to be the full moon on November 12th, which occurs in Taurus and opposes Mercury retrograde. Whenever a full moon opposes Mercury retrograde, this is usually bad news! A time for something big to pop. Could be those financial troubles I'm worried about, but it could also be something related to values, morality, ethics, legacy.
I also find these two signs, Taurus and Scorpio, can be linked to issues of discrimination. Why can't we all just get along, eh? On a personal level, I would definitely avoid big purchases of technology, electronics, gadgets, if at all possible! Mercury Retrograde in Scorpio 2019 aspects:
During the retrograde, Mercury will make 4 major aspects:
- sextile (positive aspect, two signs away) Pluto in Capricorn November 9th (Pluto is natural ruler of Scorpio so we may feel a little more at ease around this aspect with the Scorpio energy and try to use it better) - conjunct the Sun on November 11th (this is the inferior conjunction, a positive point in the retrograde for starting something that can be a focus for the next 6-8 weeks; find where 18 degrees 55 minutes Scorpio falls in your chart, and that may be where you can start something) - on November 13th, sextiles Saturn in Capricorn and trines Neptune in Pisces (helping us balance reality with fantasy and make practical use of creativity and imagination). So these aspects are all very positive - they're trying to help! Moons of Mercury Retrograde:
The Moon won't be in the same sign as this retrograde, Scorpio, so there won't be a new moon during the retrograde (just the full moon). Just before this retrograde starts, on October 27th, there is a new moon in Scorpio, so that may try to kick us off with some positive energy. But it also may just bring out attention squarely on something Scorpio-related - a big secret coming out, a big transformation needing to be made, something in the dark underbelly being revealed. Sooo . . .
The Moon will be in the signs that Mercury naturally rules, first in Gemini November 13th (3:46AM ET) to November 15th (11:15AM ET) and kicking up mental energy big-time, then in Virgo November 19th (8:54PM ET) to November 21st (11:20PM ET). This is as the retrograde ends, so it ends with the Moon in Virgo. Trying to make us more practical and focused, but also likely pretty stressed out! Final notes:
Mercury will be at a critical degree November 8th - 9th, 21-22 degrees Scorpio. Critical degrees are special degrees of critical energy, so we may be a little extra jazzed up these days. For good reasons, or bad reasons?
The retrograde begins at 27 degrees Scorpio, so those of you Scorpions born November 18th and later can feel the start of this retrograde most. The retrograde ends at 11 degrees Scorpio, so those of your Scorpions born November 1st - 6th can feel the end of the retrograde most. For the rest of you, check the house(s) Mercury will be retrograding in of your own natal chart, and any aspects Mercury will make during its retrograde to your natal planets, to fully understand how it will impact you personally. Make sure to check out the retrogrades page for interpretations for Mercury retrograde in the houses and aspects! If you have Mercury retrograde in your natal or progressed chart, you may not feel the worst of this. Those individuals generally don't experience the difficulties of the retrograde because it feels more natural to them. Of course, chances are everyone else around them doesn't have the same aspect, so they can still experience difficulties brought on by others. If it's in your natal chart, check out this article about Mercury retrograde in the natal chart. 
If you have a prominent natal Saturn in your natal chart, you can feel Saturn's energy strong in your life and personality. You understand the power of Saturn in astrology better than anyone! You may seem a little Capricorn at times since Saturn is the natural ruler of Capricorn, even if you don't have any Capricorn planets of planets in the 10th house (ruled by Saturn). You can be more responsible, mature, and goal-oriented. What does strong Saturn mean?
The upside to having a prominent natal Saturn is you can be someone who can seem quite wise, and you can learn a lot from life. You can be ambitious and disciplined, hard-working and realistic, and you can put together long-term plans that you follow through with. You can be a leader, and know how to get things done. You can manage responsibilities, and people can rely on you when needed.
The downside to having a prominent natal Saturn is you can get crushed by the restrictive energy of Saturn. You may be easily overwhelmed, feel like you're suffocating at times, and have too much weight to carry. You may be given more responsibilities than reasonable, and have very hard lessons to learn in life. The more you fight it all, the worse life can get for you. You have to be the ultimate Saturn when you have a strong natal Saturn. Always be responsible, always do things the right way and for the right reasons, always think things through, and always consider others. Being reckless, irresponsible, inconsiderate, or immature will aggravate Saturn, and then Saturn will make your life very difficult! With a prominent natal Saturn, you get some of Saturn's grounding energy, even if you're someone who has a lot of water (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) or air (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius). It can also calm down fire energy (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius). If you have a lot of earth energy to go with Saturn (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn), this can make you seem like a super grounded earthy type. But it can also mean you struggle with imagination and connection, so that may be something you have to work on. How do you know if you have a prominent natal Saturn?
You qualify if your natal Saturn is:
- conjunct a personal planet (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars) - conjunct one of the angles (1st, 4th, 7th, 10th house cusps) - in the 1st house - the most or least aspected planet - a singleton (the only planet in an element, quality, or house type) - anaretic (at 29 degrees) - at the Aries Point (o degrees of a cardinal sign) Any of these can make your Saturn stand out and give you the power of Saturn in astrology. Related page: Natal Saturn in Astrology P.S. If you have a prominent Uranus, Neptune, or Pluto in the natal chart, check out the article covering them, and if you have a prominent natal Chiron, check out the article on that! 
We've got a full moon on October 13th (5:08PM ET) in fiery Aries, and full moons in Aries tend to come with a lot of energy as Aries is a fire and cardinal sign ruled by energetic Mars. But with full moons being emotional, we may be driven by what we feel to take action, and can be moved around by emotion. Sometimes these emotions can get the better of us, and we can blow up and be more easily irritated, frustrated, and annoyed. A healthy outlet for those feelings is needed! As Aries is the first sign, full moons in Aries can be times when we finalize plans to start something, see the culmination of something we've begun, or it's the end of the beginning of beginning of the end in some way. Whatever happens can determine whether something lives on and makes it all the way, or falls apart and loses steam. This full moon is square (hard aspect, 3 signs away) transit Pluto in Capricorn and trine (positive aspect, 4 signs away) transit Jupiter in Sagittarius. The square to Pluto really amplifies the aggression, and we may fight more over power and control and need to take a step back. This may prove difficult though, and there may be some major fighting of some sort with this full moon. The trine to Jupiter wants us to try and not be so serious, not sucked into the drama. But Pluto may not play nice enough for that! The full moon occurs at 20 degrees 13 minutes Aries, The major aspects this full moon makes are: Conjunction: 18 degrees 13 minutes - 22 degrees 13 minutes Aries Sextile: 18 degrees 13 minutes - 22 degrees 13 minutes Gemini or Aquarius Square: 18 degrees 13 minutes - 22 degrees 13 minutes Cancer or Capricorn Trine: 18 degrees 13 minutes - 22 degrees 13 minutes Leo or Sagittarius Opposition: 18 degrees 13 minutes - 22 degrees 13 minutes Libra October's new moon comes on the 27th (11:38PM ET) in serious Scorpio. A Scorpio new moon tends to be more serious than a usual new moon, and we can focus on what we want to do intensely. We can work on starting something new, and throw ourselves into it completely. We can channel passionate energy into it productively, and try to push as far as we can. Scorpio is very researching, so we may try to get to the heart of a matter that we've been struggling to find a solution for. This sign also governs transformations, so we may embark on a new transformation of something, and hopefully that makes things better. This new moon is opposite transit Uranus in Taurus, so rebellious energy can get thrown into the mix with this new moon, and if we feel like anyone is trying to box us in, we can push back in a big way. There may be a sudden change with this new moon or something unexpected, some erratic energy that needs to be controlled, or something impacting the masses. Keep calm and be cautious! The new moon occurs at 4 degrees 25 minutes Scorpio. The major aspects this full moon makes are: Conjunction: 2 degrees 25 minutes - 6 degrees 25 minutes Scorpio Sextile: 2 degrees 25 minutes - 6 degrees 25 minutes Virgo or Capricorn Square: 2 degrees 25 minutes - 6 degrees 25 minutes Leo or Aquarius Trine: 2 degrees 25 minutes - 6 degrees 25 minutes Cancer or Pisces Opposition: 2 degrees 25 minutes - 6 degrees 25 minutes Taurus 
The 12th house is the house of hidden things, which includes your subconscious mind, your karma and spiritual baggage, and it's the house of endings (since it's the last house). Anything in the 12th house tends to be hidden from us, though we may not know it consciously. In love, the 12th house brings that same hiding quality, and makes us keep quiet about our feelings, not want to show affection, and hide our hearts. If you have any natal planets in the 12th house, this can make you someone who hides more than usual in your life. The more planets you have in the 12th house, the more you can hide! And this can stretch out into your relationships, of all types. Natal Venus in the 12th house can make this your natal way of being in relationships, and you don't want the whole world to see everything. Progressed Venus in the 12th house can make you feel like a native while your progressed Venus is in the 12th house (which can last a few decades!). When transit Venus is in the 12th house, you can experience a period where you have difficulty showing how you feel, and can stay quiet about any feelings you have for someone. You may want to keep things behind closed doors, under wraps, and may be more prone to something like an affair. If your natal 5th or 7th house rulers (houses of love and commitment, respectively) are in the 12th house, this can operate similarly the natal Venus in the 12th house. You may keep love and affection quiet with the 5th house, or keep quiet about commitment with the 7th house. You can come out more under positive aspects (sextiles and trines) to your 12th house cusp or ruler, and it's less hiding and more taking time to be certain of things. But when transit planets are touring your 12th house, you may hide a lot more with everything! When you have a 12th house connection in synastry and your natal planets fall in their 12th house, this can make you have difficulties expressing whatever that planet governs in the relationship (or vice versa if it's their natal planet falling in your 12th house). This is particularly challenging when it's Venus, the planet of love, and it can be difficult to show love. This can be an issue for both of you when it's planets in the composite 12th house. On the positive, it can show a spiritual connection, but you have to work at expressing yourselves. 1st and 5th house connections can be helpful with that since the 5th house governs affection and the 1st house is an outward, expressive house. In love relationships, you ideally want to see some 5th house connections in synastry and the composite chart to help you show love for one another, and the 1st house can help balance the 12th house since it's out in the open. Without these to help, it's likely that the relationship never really gets off of the ground. Keep going with love astrology and check out the articles on Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto in love too! 
Chiron is an asteroid (well technically it's disputed what Chiron actually is, but for astrology's sake is classified as an asteroid), and is linked to our wounds. Chiron represents our greatest wounds in life, the ones that leave the biggest, most lasting scars, and also shows how we can heal and grow from those experiences and move forward more complete people. In love, Chiron can bring this energy to relationships, and can show a relationship that has the potential to help us heal, or to hurt us more. Under positive Chiron aspects (sextiles and trines) to the natal or progressed 5th or 7th house cusps or rulers, or natal or progressed Venus, Chiron can help you enter into relationships that allow you to gain more insight into yourself, into your wounds and old baggage, and find ways of healing. This can make you feel better as an individual, and more secure in the relationship. Transit Chiron in the 5th house can offer opportunities to heal issues that have impacted your ability to express love and affection, opening your heart up more; transit Chiron in the 7th house can offer opportunities to heal issues that have impacted your ability to commit, compromise, and be an equal partner, and transit Chiron in the 8th house can occur opportunities to heal issues that have impacted your ability to connect with others intimately, both physically and emotionally. Hard transit Chiron aspects (conjunctions, squares, and oppositions) can make it easier to be wounded, and you may attract people to you on purpose subconsciously that will open up old wounds and make them worse. In a way, this can prompt you to finally heal from something that you've been avoiding as it makes it more obvious. But it can be a challenging experience. It's an experience that has the potential to wound you much deeper, to create even more problems for you, so you really have to lean into the healing and embrace it. Face the issues that you've been avoiding and don't look away when something comes before you. Take your time in relationships so you can build appropriate boundaries and not let in the snakes. Otherwise they may come for you! When you have a Chiron connection with someone in synastry, this can show that this person has the potential to help you heal or hurt you badly. The connection can be strong on a spiritual and psychic level, so you may have a hard time resisting either way. But it's important to try and focus on the healing potential so you can avoid the hurting potential. Which is ends up being usually depends on where both of you are in your lives when you come together. If you're more secure in who you are and are open to growing and evolving, it can be a wonderful pairing. But if you're running from your problems, not ready for tackling those wounds, and insecure, then it can be damaging. To counter the challenges of Chiron, some positive Jupiter in transit and synastry can help a lot! This can help you to be more positive and open in transit, and in synastry, you can like each other a lot which can help you manage any discomfort that may come with a Chiron connection in synastry. Moon connections in synastry can also help with Chiron since this helps you with comfort even more, and you can have emotional understanding so you're (hopefully) less likely to emotionally wound one another. Without emotional understanding from the Moon or the like from Jupiter, you may want to handle this connection with kid gloves! If you want to keep going with love astrology, check out the articles on Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto in love! |
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Important Articles:Mercury Retrograde in Scorpio: October - November 2019 September 2019 New & Full Moons October 2019 New & Full Moons Jupiter in Sagittarius: November 2018 - December 2019 Saturn in Capricorn: December 2017 - March 2020, July - December 2020 Uranus in Taurus: May - November 2018, March 2019 - July 2025, November 2025 - April 2026 Archives
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