Chart domains
The 12 Astrological Houses
The houses answer where a chart function becomes concrete: self, resources, learning, home, creativity, daily work, partnership, shared obligations, worldview, public role, community and private processing.
A house is not a sign or a planet. The calculator derives its cusp from birth time, place and the selected house system, then assigns planets to the resulting boundaries. Unknown birth time leaves this layer out instead of guessing it.
Editorial review by Luis PhamMethodology
How to use the house layer: six checks
1. Domain
Start with the life area. The house number is a location in the chart, not a substitute for the sign on its cusp.
2. Birth time changes the map
Birth time and location set the horizon, angles and cusps. A rounded time can change house assignments.
3. Cusp sign
The sign on the cusp describes style. It is separate from the house's traditional natural-zodiac analogy.
4. Ruler
Find the ruler of the cusp sign, then inspect that planet's sign, house and aspects under the declared rulership profile.
5. Occupants
A planet in a house is an actual calculated placement. An empty house is still a valid domain with a cusp and ruler.
6. Axis and system
Read the opposite house and check whether the angle and cusp coincide under Placidus, Whole Sign or Equal.
House systems and angles
The product currently exposes these three systems. The angle is a calculated point; whether it is also a house cusp depends on the system.
Placidus
A time-based quadrant system. Its 1st and 7th cusps are the Ascendant and Descendant; its 4th and 10th cusps are the IC and MC.
Whole Sign
Each house is one complete sign, beginning with the sign that contains the Ascendant. The MC and IC can fall in houses other than 10 and 4.
Equal
Twelve 30-degree houses measured from the Ascendant. The 1st cusp is the Ascendant, while the MC and IC can fall elsewhere.
The engine also contains additional house-system implementations, but they are not product selectors and are not described here as user-facing choices. See the methodology and data sources for the calculation boundary.
Explore each house domain
Each page below has its own central question, axis, cusp-ruler explanation and calculated Placidus example. Use the reference to understand the domain, then calculate your own chart to verify the result.
angular houses
The four turning points of the chart: entry, foundation, encounter and public direction.
- First HouseHow does the chart enter experience? Entry, agency, approach and the visible beginning of a personal encounter.
- Fourth HouseWhat private foundation supports the chart? Home, roots, belonging, ancestry and the private base beneath public life.
- Seventh HouseHow does the chart share agency one-to-one? Partnership, contracts, clients, projection and equal encounter.
- Tenth HouseWhat becomes visible and responsible in public? Public role, vocation, direction, reputation, authority and contribution.
succedent houses
Domains that develop, preserve and circulate what the chart has begun: value, creation, trust and community.
- Second HouseWhat does the chart build and value? Personal resources, values, skills, money and the security a chart develops.
- Fifth HouseWhat does the chart create for its own sake? Creative expression, play, pleasure, romance and chosen personal risk.
- Eighth HouseWhat must be shared, trusted or renegotiated? Shared resources, debt, taxes, intimacy, consent, leverage and renewal.
- Eleventh HouseHow does a personal contribution join a network? Communities, allies, audiences, collective aims and future-facing projects.
cadent houses
Domains of learning, adjustment and release that help a chart connect one phase to the next.
- Third HouseHow does the chart learn what is nearby? Everyday learning, communication, local movement, documents and familiar exchange.
- Sixth HouseWhat keeps ordinary life workable? Daily work, routines, service, skill, maintenance and practical wellbeing.
- Ninth HouseWhat larger frame gives experience meaning? Higher study, worldview, ethics, teaching, publishing, law and far horizons.
- Twelfth HouseWhat needs rest, release or private processing? Retreat, sleep, compassion, institutions, permeability and unseen preparation.
Calculate your houses
Enter a reliable birth time and place to see the Ascendant, angles, cusps, house system and actual planetary occupants together.
Calculate your birth chart