The Houses of Astrology and I Ching

The Houses

The houses are a division of a shape into twelve sections. The first house starts in the East or on the Ascendant and you move anticlockwise with the house numbers from one to twelve. Each house has a different quality, the birth chart starts with Aries in the East or first house moving through to Pisces in the 12^th house and you can use this as the template or move your own DNA codon into the 1^st house position, I would recommend you do both. Look at the way your crystal operates in relation to the standard Astrological Birth Chart and also the crystal.

1^st House..... The first is the beginning, something new has begun, spring has sprung, Aries, the first fire sign warming the earth bringing new growth and expansion. Sometimes called the fool because these people will go were others fear to tread, more positive people would call them pioneers. Happy to start out on a new project and see where it might take them. It's about me, myself and I, there is no us in the first house. This is about my personality, how I get things done, the ego, who I am, who I might become, this is me, there is no other like me, the inner child that never leaves you. The first house is about new growth so childlike qualities present themselves which is often why they take risks, as though they know no better, they have still to hear their Mothers words don't. They can also be accident prone. Ruled by the planet Mars, planet of action and motion, they have much to do and they will do it, nothing must get in their way. The Toddler can still have his tantrums. Mars rules the head and fire, don't be a hot head.

2^nd House..... The second house of Taurus is about our personal possessions, material wealth and self esteem. You are approximately 8 years old now and you know how you like to put all those dolls, teddies, cars, posters in your room, you are marking your ground, this is who I am becoming. Your possessions are important to you. If you have the right trainers at school you will fit in with the in crowd and your self esteem will be high. As you get older those possessions change, some things have sentimental value and you will want to keep them forever, even if its just tickets to a concert. You will have a little box for all those precious things. They can speak of who you are. You will like beautiful things and eventually replace things improving the quality of your possessions as you go. You have learned how to get things done in the first house and now you are seeing something for all your hard work, if you didn't put in the effort or do not feel capable of achieving goals your self esteem will suffer. Your possessions will enhance the quality of your life as it progresses. This is about your ability to earn money to buy the things you want for a comfortable life, the house, the car, the jewellery etc., you may use these things as a measure of your worth. Using what we have earned to set ourselves up for a comfortable life will bring a certain level of freedom and social standing with it which in turn makes us feel good about ourselves. Ruled by the planet Venus Taurus desires to bring beauty to the world. If it isn't beautiful or useful it serves no purpose. An Earthy sensuous, desirous second house.

3^rd House..... Gemini ruled by the planet Mercury, this would be a good time to get your head down and study, learn as much as you can whilst you don't have the responsibility of making a living. Schooling and using the mind is very important in the third house. Siblings are very important if you have them they can make school much easier, neighbours or people that are around you rather than at a distance will be important here, someone who can be a buddy. Learning to communicate is very third house. Taking short journeys from A to B across the country rather than across the world. The more you can learn now the more it will benefit you in the future. This is O and A levels rather than degrees. If you know what you want out of life by now then you will know what to study if or when higher education comes around. A clear none agitated mind is what you are seeking one that can absorb knowledge. We are safe in our close knit community and when we are sure of our family and friends we can venture out into the world using our level of intelligence and communication to connect to others further afield. Think and share your thoughts with others. Mercury rules the nervous system and the mind and is associated with Tree/Air energy it can be impish and childlike or intelligent and thoughtful. The third house loves a chat and tends to rational thinking. I just want to be loved and I want people to enjoy my company.

4^th House..... The home, property, land, roots, genetic inheritance, The Mother as the key figure in the home. This house is all about who you are at the root level, where did you come from, what is your genetic inheritance, for example son of Mozart is likely to have a piano. Daughter of Berthe Morisot a paint brush. We are what we have inherited like it or not. If you feel you didn't get much in the way of inheritance think again you can adapt and change what you have and improve on it, never let your roots hold you back. Obviously strong roots give you a firm foundation from which to grow, a difficult childhood can damage those roots but a pollarded tree can grow and be stronger, achieve more and live longer, or it may just feel that way. Your Mother is a huge influence on family life in the home and her level of warmth and care will have an effect on you. We come from the Earth and we will return to the Earth at the end of our lives. Compost to feed and nurture the Earth as she nurtured us throughout our lives. We come in with certain qualities and hopefully we will have improved on them before we return to the Earth better than ever before.

The Sign of Cancer is Water and associated with the Moon or waves of emotion, the tides come in and go out everyday and can be depended upon if a little changeable. Home should be your sanctuary when you return from school, or work you should feel you can kick off your shoes and be at peace. No sanctuary, no peace in your life. This is a very important part of your life. Creating a home is one of the most important tasks you will undertake. You already have Aries action, Taurus beauty and Gemini thinking under your belt now you can create a home for who you are, or who you have become. This area gives away who you are to anyone who visits your home, the way you present your home says so much about you. The ornaments that you give space in your home tell your tale. Beware of what your letting others know. Paint your house pink on the outside and it's more likely to be robbed because it looks more vulnerable.

A couple of Lions at the gate and they will think twice.

5^th House.... Leo, The Sun, creativity, children, hobbies, luck and individual success. This house is all about knowing how to have fun, to get in touch with that creative being inside you and put what you create out into the world. Such as your children, created from who you and your partner have become and who together you have created. What key tools would you be giving your children based on who their parents are?Freedom is found in the opposite sign of Aquarius, once you have children freedom, is a luxury you don't often get. If you create a business your freedom is curtailed to some lesser extent because you now have responsibility for others you employ. Staying creative and not being brought down by responsibility is the key to the fifth house, artistic, busy, working on hobbies and making a living from them will feel like your not really working at all. Make what you do to earn a living fun, enjoy it, bring the Sun to shine upon it, enjoy. When you love what your doing you feel lucky, when you feel lucky life works out better than you could have imagined, success has been brought about by your individual contribution. When you are enjoying life your creativity flows. Take a chance on life and it will make your life a pleasure to behold. Pure pleasure is what the fifth is all about and a fun time can be had by all unless you take the risk factor too far, you don't really feel the love but go ahead anyway. Not all risks have good end results, why aren't things working for me, I will start to gamble things will look up. Not the work of the Sun, if it doesn't feel good or make you happy you are confusing something else for creativity. Leo the second Fire sign is all about romance and the idea of love, ruled by the Sun it can put you in the spotlight, make sure your ready for it. Isn't warmth lovely.

6^th House..... The sixth house is about learning to maintain good health, how would you cope if a crisis or illness where to crop up. Be prepared.

This is the house of co-workers and the workplace, are you fit enough to keep that business afloat in a crisis, whether you own the business or work with others this is about responsibility and being in the care or service of others. You are in this together. If you think only of yourself this can go awry. Being able to help others is a major part of our lives, caring enough to put in the effort required. Serving others in the workplace is very important here. The sixth house is about Virgo – I serve – and associated with the planet of communication and healing Mercury. The sixth house is about healing yourself and others and making the world a healthier place. The little things in life, like what to have for lunch, having pets etc., they are associated with the sixth, a healthy body and mind. Virgo does sweat the small stuff and in the minutia we find order.

7^th House..... the house of balance, partnerships, other people, you rather than me, marriage, unions, the law, open enemies and how you appear to other people. Who you are determines the type of partner you will attract. I always say if you don't like your partner then take a look at yourself for the imbalances you see in others. Unions of all sorts, marriage, work, partnerships are like a pair of gloves if they don't match then leave well enough alone and move on but don't lay blame at the others door or you will attract open enemies, enemies that are not scared to let you know what they think of you. Lets face it who needs it, be the best you that you can be and hope for the best, if partnerships don't work out well for you then you know you have given it your all and that's all you have. Other people and their opinions of you can be hurtful, harmful even but they are the mirror we need to temper our own behaviours. Listen and measure what is being offered before moving on. Stay balanced and harmonious and life will be easier with less enemies to deal with. The Law often needs to be brought into a battle of wills to draw a conclusion if you are not capable of coming to a conclusion of your own. Here we learn our place in the world. If the partnerships you form greatly enhance your quality of life then you are operating well in the 7^th house of harmony. This is the house of loving partnerships ruled by Venus planet of love but when we cannot work out our differences we can end up going to war with each other using our opposite sign of Aries and Mars God of War. Stay balanced and focussed on your goals, do not let differences with others affect your equilibrium or the balance of the scales of justice will come into operation. Peace not War. The 7^th house of Libra the second Air/Tree house ruled by Venus all you need is love. Venus is known as the Morning Star or Jesus the bringer of light, but then she can also be known as Lucifer. We all have two sides I guess and it can be a balancing act to get things right. If your wearing a silk glove up the your elbow then you are not going to be a good match for someone wearing a leather gauntlet.....common sense.

8^th House..... passion, your hearts desire, money transactions, sexuality, transformation, inheritance, power and all things hidden. This is the house of secrets, things you might want to keep private. Like death, wills, sex and so on. Not something you chat about every day. The strength of your desire is measured here, if you really in your heart want something you have the power to make things happen. The Secret and how it works belongs to the 8^th house of Scorpio ruled by Mars and Pluto. Pluto likes to keep things on the down low, not telling you anything you don't need to know but once he decides to put it out there he will unearth the very thing you have tried to hide and present it for all to see. Secrets have a habit of secreting until they find a way out. Sexual power is not just something in the bedroom it has a strength that cannot be contained once its sets it heart on something, it cannot fail if it keeps focussed on that desire. Wills, inheritance and death are also associated with this house, death has always been considered a private matter. So anything you might consider a private matter will be found hiding in the 8^th house. What is your hearts desire, it sounds as though it will be something of a sexual nature but that's a misunderstanding, the strength of your desire has a similar energy but once you send that desire out into the Universe it will seek out that very thing that also desires to be born and before you know it your hearts desire is on its ways to you. Get ready now. Transformations can occur as we learn and are born again each morning a new person. Sexuality obviously plays a large part of 8^th house activity but not the only part. You are learning to be more spiritual in nature.

9^th House..... This is the house of Sagittarius ruled by Jupiter planet of expansion. So long journeys across continents are more up the ninth house street than the shorter journeys of its opposite sign of Gemini. This is the house of the explorer or philosopher someone prepared to think deeply and extensively on a subject whatever that subject may be. Abstract thoughts on deep levels are common here, higher education, University, law, religion and spirituality are common place. Beware becoming so knowledgeable that you look down on others from your elevated position. New ways to understand our world and examine it more deeply will be found in the 9^th house. It is also the house of your in laws, perhaps as an example of the expanded family. So long as you stick to the laws and rules of society you can think as deeply as you would like. For example if you want to advance medicine you understand that you cannot become a body snatcher to further your goals, you cannot use human beings as guinea pigs etc., we understand you are on the brink of something new and exciting that the world may not have known or understood before but remain ethical about it or taint your own discoveries. The ninth house of the abstract mind could potentially be capable of these higher thoughts because it has been able to connect to a higher consciousness, one mind, a super brain call it what you may if you can get yourself into a place with enough balance, harmony and creativity that you can connect to other worldly things psychically then you are holding the key to the future of this world. Use is wisely. Publishing and media are also associated here possibly printing the books all these thoughts have created. You have a need to seek meaning and truth in everything, finding it difficult to let ridiculous comments just float by, remember you don't have to have an opinion on everything and people who interrupt your flow may well be enemies who want to hold you back. Let the nonsense go by and focus on the truth that's out there desirous of a place to be born.

10^th House..... Social standing, fame and success, achievements, ambitions and The Father. The tenth house is the peak of your achievements, who you are, how others see you, your levels of fame and success, is your Father proud of your achievements. You are the head of the household now how are you doing. Hey, 'this is me'. Who I have made myself into. What do you think? We have success what have been our motivations, how have we gone about achieving our goals. Are we proud of ourselves and the position we have reached. Could we have done more, did we lack confidence, or are we delighted to be right up there with the big guys. Now you have achieved these heady heights how you expect to stay up there do you have a back up plan. Do all those things you acquired in your second house make you feel good or are you on a tread mill of working, buying and working some more. Are you happy with who you are and where you are in society. Can you fund yourself through retirement, how much money are you going to need, do you have to continue working some more in order to make more to sustain this position. Is it never ending or can I let go of status and enjoy my retirement. The Father is associated with the tenth house or the authoritarian parent, in a one parent family both 4^th and 10^th can be associated with the parent you had at home. The father is your guide in areas of career whereas the Mother is more associated with the home. If your father undermined you it could cause you to falter or alternatively to work harder to achieve your own goals rather than his. There can be little doubt a good Mother and Father tends to equal a more balanced and harmonious life. They are your motivation. When things come too easily they are often times not appreciated and talent can go to waste through lack of effort. Difficulties can often be the key to hard work and achievement. Capricorn the Earth element and it's ruler Saturn can be hard task masters, you don't get to the top unless you put in the time and the effort, nobody is an overnight success. The cloven hoof is associated with Capricorn don't play the devil just because you can, if you do there is much for you to learn. Be a mentor as well as the boss.

11^th House...projects, protectors, friends, your position in the group rather than as the individual of the 5^th house, humanitarian projects. We can find strength in numbers especially amongst like minded people. This house is all about networking, spreading the word, this is about what you really want to do in your spare time. Joining clubs and groups of people who think the way that you do in order to get an idea off the ground. Our true hopes and dreams can be found here and our determination to achieve them, these are big plans that we might not be able to achieve on our own. For example if you wanted to start a charity would you go it alone or look for someone who is already doing what you had in mind and connect with them expanding your plans and theirs at the same time. These projects are more than likely humanitarian in nature so the more the merrier. The Philanthropist is born. This is about achievement not your own ego. This house is opposite to the 5^th house of your children so is associated with step children, adopted children, children across the world if your plans can stretch that far. Fostering is also an area you might think to look at. Planets Saturn and Uranus rule Aquarius in the 11^th house and other peoples children can prove hard task masters and unpredictable but if you love the child whose hand you hold you wont go far wrong. Your family and friends may not conform to the norm but they are your family and friends.

12^th House.... Pisces and the 12^th house ruled by Jupiter and Neptune this is the house of the ordeal, difficulties, hidden enemies, serious illness, crisis, large institutions such as hospitals, monasteries, asylums, you are on a journey to find inner peace and sanctuary it was never going to be easy but it will prove worthwhile in the end. If you have a friend who is a Pisces ask yourself what's wrong with you, chances are they counsel you on a regular basis. If you have a strong connection to the 12^th house then I suggest you become a Doctor, Nurse, Psychologist, because you are going to be around large institutions and it's preferable to being the patient. This is a house that sees you through a crisis, never gives up on even the most hopeless of cases. A journey to find inner peace, balance and equilibrium. You should have a home you can call a sanctuary and return to it often, do not stay away from your sanctuary for great lengths of time. You may find you have hidden enemies, undermining you in many ways, smiling to your face and stabbing you in the back, be aware of this but do not be quick to respond because then your balance and equilibrium has once again been affected. You can expand your mind and journey the deepest oceans and be miles away in your own living room be aware that you are going to go close to the edge in your search for the meaning of life. Life is a psychedelic journey it can be scary, nerve wracking but ultimately very exciting and satisfying. This is the last house in this cycle and it will sum up how you are doing so far, remember your own worst enemy can be yourself. You're on the edge of the fools next journey into the first house do not forget all you have learned. Next time you pass through here you will give away your last fiver to a vagrant because now of course you know. People may see you as a fool about to put your best foot forward but you just laugh and take that first step into the unknown. I laugh in the face of adversity, they don't realise you have done all this before.