Houses Are Three-Dimensional Beginner's Astrology > Astrological House Sys... > House Systems > Houses Are Three-Dimen... Astrological House Systems

Three-Dimensional

And although our two-dimensional horoscope chart is flat, the sections of the houses are not. They are three-dimensional, like the sections of an orange. Just imagine walking outside under the night sky, with the stars and planets twinkling around you, and dividing up all that space above you and below you (on the other side of the earth) into 12 sections or segments. From where you stand looking to the south would be the Tenth House, behind you and to the north (and below you) would be the Fourth House, at your left and to the east would be the First House, to your right and to the west would be the Seventh House, and so on. That is what astrological houses are like.

Meaning of the 12 Houses Astrological House Systems

Meaning of the Houses

Each of the 12 houses has a different meaning, and describes or points out a different area of our experience. Once we learn something about what each of these arenas of experience mean, we can begin reading astrological sentences like the one given above, “Sun in Cancer in the Eighth House.” And best of all, the wheel of the 12 houses is a unified whole cycle (like the zodiac signs, the phases of the Moon, etc.), such that each house is a phase in that cycle leading to the next. When you learn about cycles and cycles’ phases, you are automatically learning about the houses.

What Are Houses? Astrological House Systems

What Are Houses?

First of all, houses are part of your horoscope, your natal birth chart. Simply put, the houses are a way to divide the space surrounding our birthplace into sections of space as seen from the place on Earth where we were born, that is: the space above us, the space below us, the space to the east of us, the space to the west of us, and so forth. We divide the entire space into 12 sections, like segments of an orange. Once we have divided the space around us, we look to see in what house or section of the sky the various heavenly bodies can be found, like the Sun, Moon, and planets, but also, the stars and any other astronomical body that might interest us. And since the planets are plotted in the zodiac signs, most house systems show where the particular house is (intersects) the band of the zodiac.

Astrological House Systems

The Houses

You’ve probably seen an astrological chart wheel, divided into 12 roughly equal pie-shaped sections, much like how we would cut up a pizza. These 12 sections are called the “Astrological Houses” or usually just the “houses.” In each pie-shaped house, we might find one or more the planets or the Sun and the Moon. Just as someone might tell you they have the Sun in Aries, so they might also say that they have the Sun in the 11th house. And these 12 houses have specific meanings, just as the 12 zodiac signs do. The phrase “He’s a Taurus,” might just as easily be “He’s a Second-House Sun.” We will learn about what the houses mean, but first it will help to know something about what houses are, and where they come from.