What is a House (Bhava)?

A House is a 30 degrees segment of the Zodiac. It is the same size as a Sign, but while Signs are fixed, Houses depend on the Ascendant. As the exact time, date and place of birth determines the Ascendant, whichever Sign this point falls becomes the 1st House. From a geocentric perspective, the whole of the Zodiac belt makes a full rotation in a 24 hours period. The 12 Signs “go around” in a day, so the Ascendant within the same date at the same location be any of the 12 Signs.

This is why the time of birth is so important, without the exact time, based only on the birth day a person could be literally any of the 12 Ascendants, making all Astrological predictions or analysis completely meaningless and useless. 

The 12 Houses and their meanings. 

Each House represents a particular area of life. While there are a lot of layers of information hidden in each House, it is possible to give a basic description of the meaning of each House.

1st House (Ascendant, Lagna, Rising Sign)

The defining feature of a person, this is the House that makes someone a Taurus person, or an Aries person, etc. This is the House of the “Self”. Any planet placed in this House has a disproportionately strong influence.

2nd House

The House of wealth, family lineage, food intake, the voice, the speech, this House shows what we “value”.

3rd House

Communication, skills of hand, writing, enterprising, making efforts, small group settings. This is the House that holds the information about a person’s ability to “do”.

4th House

The home, the Mother, wealth and conveniences. How comfortable a person is and particularly what makes him comfortable. Land, property, vehicles, etc.

5th House

Children, creativity, playfulness, the sense of fun, ability to enjoy things and learn and pursue goals passionately. Wealth is seen here in the form of risk taking and investments.

6th House

This is the House of the battlefield. Enemies, conflict, illnesses, problems are seen from this House. This is where we can find out what types of obstacles a person will have in life but also we can see how, and how effectively a person can fight these battles.

7th House

Marriage, partnerships, generally “other people”. This is the House of trade, business, law and dealing with people in general. We can see what types of partnerships are likely, and beneficial. The popularity and likeability of the person is seen from this House.

8th House

Accidents, sudden events, the hidden. This House shows the person’s relationship with the “unknown” and the “unseen’ both in the mundane and the esoteric realms. Secrets, investigation, research ability, the condition of married life, relationship with in-laws and inheritance are also seen from this House.

9th House

Luck, religiosity, the law (both secular and divine) and higher studies. The relationship with “knowledge and wisdom”. Ease and comfort in following religious rules. Also “dumb luck” the good fortune that is not particularly deserved or based on the merits of the person. Long distance travels and pilgrimages.

10th House

The House of career, work and public life. Reputation and fame. Politics, participation in civic affairs. This is the most important House to understand the working life of a person. Father and authority, structure and stability.

11th House

The House of profits and incoming gains, wish fulfilment, network and large group setting. Monetary gains through network, the ability to “have access” to resources for plans and projects.

12th House

This is the House of the hidden, the subconscious and the dream world. Spirituality and the other realms, sexuality. Foreign trade and foreign settlement. This is the most important House to understand imagination and artistic and intellectual creativity. Psychic abilities and premonitions. 

To truly understand a given area of life, we need to see the rulership (which planet is ruling the given House), the planets placed in the House and the aspects the House receives from other planets.