The house in the top center of the chart is the 1st house. The 2nd house is to the left of the first and the 12th house is to its right along the top of the chart. Directly below the 1st house is the 7th house. The 6th house is to the left of the 7th house and the 8th house is to its right along the bottom of the chart. The 4th house is the central house on the left side of the chart. The 3rd house is above it and the 5th house is below. The 10th house is the central house on the right side of the chart. The 11th house is above it and the 9th house is below.
The 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 9th, and 10th houses are good houses. This includes the 4 houses in the center of the chart, which are also called the Cardinal houses. [6] X Research source The 6th, 8th, and 12th houses are bad houses. The 3rd and 11th houses are neutral houses.
Cardinal or Kendra houses: 1st, 10th, 7th, and 4th. These houses are often considered the most important in any Vedic birth chart. Planets in these houses are strong and fully express their energy. If you’re only going to do a partial reading, go with these houses. Fixed or Panapara houses: 2nd, 5th, 8th, and 11th. These houses all relate to money and material things. Planets in these houses have moderate strength. Cadent or Apoklima houses: 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th. Planets in these houses are seen to be weakened and have little power.
The 1st house (Aries) represents your body and your self, or ego, as well as your appearance. The 5th house (Leo) represents your heart, romance and sexuality, and children. The 9th house (Sagittarius) represents your higher mind, including your higher learning and level of intelligence as well as your religious beliefs or spirituality.
The 2nd house (Taurus) represents your possessions, inheritance, and financial comfort. The 6th house (Virgo) represents your food, nutrition, and health. The 10th house (Capricorn) represents your social standing, reputation, and fame.
The 3rd house (Gemini) represents your siblings and your relationship with them, as well as your communication skills and how well you share information. The 7th house (Libra) represents your partnerships and business relationships, as well as your marriage. The 11th house (Aquarius) represents your income, as well as your relationships with your friends and other close associates.
The 4th house (Cancer) represents your home and any property you own, the level of luxury you live in, and your comfort in old age. The 8th house (Scorpio) represents obstacles in your life, including suffering or imprisonment. It also relates to sex and death. The 12th house (Pisces) represents expenses and losses, as well as suffering and instances of self-sabotage. [15] X Research source Remember—the 8th and 12th houses are considered bad houses! When you look at the areas of your life they represent, it’s easy to understand why. [16] X Research source
The Moon represents the female and mother. It affects your sense of nurturing and connection to other people. For example, the Moon in your 5th house (children) might indicate that you’ll have a large family. Venus affects sexual and sensual desire, including happiness, love, sex, vitality, and respect. For example, Venus in your 10th house (fame and social standing) might mean a lot of people will fall in love with you. Jupiter affects your knowledge and optimism, as well as teaching or mentoring. For example, Jupiter in your 9th house (higher mind) might indicate you’re meant to be a spiritual teacher or guru. Mercury affects your speech and communication skills, dexterity, intelligence, curiosity, and playfulness. For example, Mercury in your 3rd house (siblings, communication skills) might represent a fun and playful relationship with your siblings or a career as a speaker or counselor.
The Sun represents the male or father. It affects your confidence, power, and self-growth. For example, if you see the Sun in your 12th house (expenses, losses), it could be a signal that you have problems with money or going into debt. Mars represents male friends and brothers. It affects your physical strength, discipline, aggression, and logic. For example, Mars in your 6th house (food, health) might mean that you have a hard time sticking to a healthy diet and like to eat junk food. Saturn represents old age. It affects your ambitions, fears, responsibility, and capacity for hard work, stress, or isolation. For example, if Saturn shows up in your 4th house (comfort in old age), it might be telling you that you’ll work hard into your old age rather than have a relaxing retirement. Rahu (the northern lunar node) affects your attachment, distorted perception, obsession, and psychic ability. For example, Rahu in your 11th house (relationships with friends) could mean that you have difficulty trusting people or believing them. Ketu (the southern lunar node) affects your dissatisfaction, detachment, discrimination, and temper. It’s not considered as bad as Rahu. For example, if you saw Ketu in your 7th house (marriage), you might want to watch out for fights with your spouse.
The Sun rules Leo. It is exalted in Aries and debilitated in Libra. The Moon rules Cancer. It is exalted in Taurus and debilitated in Scorpio. Mars rules Aries and Scorpio. It is exalted in Capricorn and debilitated in Cancer. Mercury rules Gemini and Virgo. It is exalted in Virgo and debilitated in Pisces. Jupiter rules Sagittarius and Pisces. It is exalted in Cancer and debilitated in Capricorn. Venus rules Taurus and Libra. It is exalted in Pisces and debilitated in Virgo. Saturn rules Capricorn and Aquarius. It is exalted in Libra and debilitated in Aries. Rahu (the northern lunar node) is exalted in Taurus and debilitated in Scorpio. Ketu (the southern lunar node) is exalted in Scorpio and debilitated in Taurus. Note that neither Rahu nor Ketu rules any zodiac sign.
In Vedic astrology, the zodiac signs are typically represented by a number from 1-12: Aries (1), Taurus (2), Gemini (3), Cancer (4), Leo (5), Virgo (6), Libra (7), Scorpio (8), Sagittarius (9), Capricorn (10), Aquarius (11), Pisces (12). Each of the zodiac numbers corresponds with the house that sign is associated with. But be careful! The signs move while the houses remain fixed, so a sign won’t necessarily be in the house it’s associated with at the time of someone’s birth. When you’re looking at a Vedic birth chart, the numbers tell you where the zodiac signs are located.
For example, suppose you’re looking at a birth chart with the Sun in the 1st house. You know that the 1st house represents the person’s self, ego, and appearance. The Sun is a planet with a negative influence on confidence, power, and self-growth. So you could say that the person has low self-confidence and doesn’t put pride in their appearance. Although this is a gross over-simplification, knowing what the planet controls and what house it’s in gives you a starting point to analyze how it affects the person. Those effects are then stronger or weaker depending on the location of the zodiac signs and the relative placement of other planets. For example, if Libra was also in the 1st house with the Sun, it would debilitate the Sun and weaken its effects. So while the person might have low self-esteem as a result of the Sun in the 1st house, it wouldn’t necessarily mean that they hated themselves.
For example, what if a chart shows Rahu (the northern lunar node) in the 2nd house? Since the 2nd house represents material possessions, luxuries, and finances, and Rahu deals with attachment and obsession, you might conclude that this person is obsessed with spending money and being surrounded by luxury and material possessions.
For example, suppose a birth chart shows Jupiter in the 9th house. The 9th house is associated with Sagittarius, and Jupiter rules Sagittarius. You can infer from this that Jupiter would be particularly strong and effective in the 9th house. To continue the example, you know that Jupiter influences knowledge and teaching, while the 9th house deals with higher mind and spirituality. From that, you might infer that the chart belongs to someone who is a spiritual teacher or guru.
Position: This relates to the zodiac sign where the planet is located. A planet in the sign it rules is most effective. It can also be exalted or diminished. Aspect: Each planet aspects, or watches, the 7th house from its location. Count these out for each planet to determine which house it aspects, then you can make a determination for how that affects the house based on the aspecting planet’s energy. Conjunction: You have a conjunction when there are 2 or more planets in the same house. The effect of the conjunction varies depending on how the planets get along with each other. If they’re in conflict, they weaken the house. Exchange: This happens when the ruling planets of 2 signs swap positions. For example, you could have the Sun, which rules Leo, in Cancer, and the Moon, which rules Cancer, in Leo. The effect of the exchange depends on the houses where each planet is located as well as the other planets on the chart.
