From The Twelve Houses by Howard Sasportas (Flare, 2007)

Ideally, every factor in the chart should be interpreted in the light of the whole chart; it is only then that the true significance of that placement can be appreciated in relation to the broader pattern of an individual’s being and becoming. However, as a step or aid in the process of ultimately synthesizing all the important factors in the horoscope, this part of the book explores the possible interpretations of the different planets and signs through the houses. The suggested meanings are by no means conclusive, nor are they intended to be taken as gospel. It is hoped, however, that the information given (most of which is drawn from personal experience) will generate further thought and insight into the various and numerous ramifications of each placement.

General Guidelines for Interpreting Planets in the Houses

What exactly does a planet (or planets) situated in a house show or suggest? To answer this, we need to recall that the astrological birthchart portrays symbolically how an individual’s drives and urges are apt to express themselves. Like the seed of a plant or a tree, it contains a blueprint of what the fully developed person could grow into or become. The chart tells us something about the nature of the seed, as well as offering some general indications about the process of the seed’s unfoldment. On this basis, the birth map can be understood as a set of instructions showing how a person can most naturally actualize his or her potential.

Bearing this principle in mind, we can infer three basic guidelines for interpreting a planet in a house:

1. When a planet is located in a house, the function or activity represented by the planet finds its most natural area of expression in the field of experience referred to by that house. The sign in which the planet is placed gives further information about how this activity can be approached.
2. The reverse is also true: the area of life designated by the house in which a planet falls is most naturally dealt with and handled in accordance with the type of activity represented by the planet there.
3. A planet in a house also shows the nature of the archetypal principle we are born already expecting to encounter through that area of life or facet of experience. It is the kind of energy we are innately predisposed to perceive or meet in that domain. It is the a priori image of that sphere of life which exists right from birth.

General Guidelines for Interpreting Signs in the Houses

Sign placements are slightly more complicated than planetary placements in relationship to the houses. Firstly, there will always be a particular degree of a certain sign on the cusp or beginning point of each house. In our example chart, 11 degrees of Cancer is on the cusp of the 1st house; 29 degrees of Cancer on the cusp of the 2nd house; 20 degrees of Leo on the cusp of the 3rd house, etc. We would then associate the principles of Cancer with what the 1st house represents; the principle of Cancer will also influence the 2nd house (even though only one degree of Cancer remains in the 2nd it is still associated with that house because of its cuspal position there); the principles of Leo would operate in the 3rd house, etc.

However, if we look closely, we will see that there is a variety of ways in which a sign may appear in a house:

1. Some portion of a sign may be in a house even if it is not on the cusp of the house. In the example chart, Cancer is on the cusp of the 2nd, but much of the sign of Leo is there as well. Therefore, the 2nd house will be associated not only with a Cancer influence but also with a Leo influence. Usually the influence of the sign on the cusp is considered more important even if more of the next sign is present in that house.
2. If, as in the case of the Quadrant systems of house-division, the same sign falls on two successive house cusps, then all of another sign will be intercepted in another house. This means that a house begins with one sign on the cusp, has the next sign intercepted or totally contained within the house, and has the following sign completing the house. There are then three signs influencing an intercepted house (again the sign on the cusp is usually the most important influence). In the example chart, Cancer and Capricorn are both on the cusp of two houses (the 1st and 2nd, and 7th and 8th respectively). Consequently we can look for other houses with intercepted signs. In this case, the 5th house begins with 23 degrees of Libra on the cusp, has all of Scorpio intercepted in it, and ends with the first few degrees of Sagittarius. A similar situation exists with the opposite signs in the opposite house, the 11th.

The guidelines for interpreting a sign (or signs) in a house are similar to those for interpreting a planet in a house, except that it should be remembered that the sign on the cusp of the house is considered more important than other signs that might be in that house:

1. The sign or signs in a house find their most natural area of expression in the field of experience referred to by that house.
2. The sign or signs in a house indicate the types of experiences which allow the native to best realize his or her potential in that field of life.
3. The sign or signs in a house also suggest what kind of archetypal energies the person is predisposed to expect in that area of life.

This will be an opportunity for LSA students to read articles and short pieces about various areas of astrology.