If the signs are the cast, the houses are the stage. Each one is an arena of life — and a chart is just the question of which planet stands in which room.
The wheel turns on four anglesThe anglesThe four cardinal points of a chart — the cusps of houses 1, 4, 7, and 10. The most sensitive, defining points in the whole wheel.: the AscendantAscendant · ASCThe eastern horizon and the 1st-house cusp. Your outward self and the chart's starting point — the houses run counterclockwise from here. at the left, the DescendantDescendant · DSCThe western horizon and the 7th-house cusp, opposite the Ascendant. The other: partners and close relationships. opposite it, the MidheavenMidheaven · MCThe highest point and the 10th-house cusp. Your public life, calling, and reputation. crowning the top, and the Imum CoeliImum Coeli · ICThe lowest point and the 4th-house cusp. Home, roots, and the private foundation. at the base.
The chart wheel — hover a house for a peek · click to open
Fire1·5·9Fire · Houses of lifeIdentity, creativity, and meaning — who you are and what you're for. The spark. Houses 1 · 5 · 9.Earth2·6·10Earth · Houses of substanceResources, work, and calling — what you build, hold, and are known for. The material. Houses 2 · 6 · 10.Air3·7·11Air · Houses of relationshipThe mind, partners, and community — how you meet and connect with others. The exchange. Houses 3 · 7 · 11.Water4·8·12Water · Houses of soulHome, depth, and the unseen — feeling, endings, and what runs beneath. The hidden. Houses 4 · 8 · 12.
The color key — hover an element for its trinity
AngularAngular housesHouses on the chart's four angles. The strongest, most active houses — like the Cardinal signs, they initiate.The pivots — they act. (1 · 4 · 7 · 10)
SuccedentSuccedent housesThe houses that follow the angles. They hold and consolidate what the angular houses begin — like the Fixed signs.The holders — they stabilize. (2 · 5 · 8 · 11)
CadentCadent housesThe houses falling away from the angles. Mental and adaptive — they process and pass things on, like the Mutable signs.The adapters — they distribute. (3 · 6 · 9 · 12)