Where the Energy Lands ~ Understanding Astrology's 12 Houses✨

What are the astrology houses—and why do they matter?

In this episode of Astrology with Alisa, we’re answering a great listener question about the 12 houses of the birth chart.

I’m walking you through what each house represents, how they differ from the planets and zodiac signs, and what it means when your chart shows a cluster of planets in one area of life.

You’ll hear real-life examples from my own chart and my son’s, and we’ll also clear up one of the most common questions people ask me in readings:
What does it mean if a house is empty?

If you’ve ever wanted a clear, simple guide to understanding how astrology maps onto real life—this is your episode.

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Transcript

Where the Energy Lands ~ Understanding Astrology's 12 Houses✨

📍   Astrology isn't just about signs and symbols; it's a tool for navigating real life. Hello and welcome to Astrology with Alisa. I'm your host, Alisa Dixon, and I'm so glad you're here. Let's dive in.

 I had a listener question come in recently that really deserves its own episode, because honestly, to answer it, I need to lay a little more foundation a few times. Now, I've casually mentioned the astrology houses, like when I said I have my moon in the first house, which means I'm close with my mother, or the week my podcast went missing, when I mentioned the Saturn-Neptune energy hitting my third house of communication.

Or when I mentioned the Pluto Mars argument in the sky landing in my first and seventh houses, which made things a little tense between me and my husband, or whenever I invite you to book a reading with me to go deeper and see where specific energies are showing up in your own life. I've scratched the surface of the idea of the houses.

So when a listener reached out and asked me to explain the houses. What are they and what do they mean? I got excited to dive in. So let's start with some basics. The planets in astrology are the core energies of the birth chart. The Sun is our essence, our vitality, and how we shine in the world. The moon is our emotional world.

What we need to feel safe and secure. Mercury rules our thoughts and communication. Venus is love, pleasure, and money. Okay, Mars is action, energy, and drive. Jupiter is expansion, growth, and faith. Saturn is structure, boundaries, and responsibility. Uranus is innovation, breakthroughs, and surprises. Neptune is dreams, idealism, and surrender.

Pluto is transformation and personal power. So, in a nutshell, that's the planetary energy itself. The zodiac sign a planet is in describes how that energy is expressed. Is it fiery and bold like Aries? Is it emotional and nurturing like cancer? Is it precise and analytical? Like Virgo, you get the idea.

 Then the houses show where the energy shows up in your life. The birth chart is a 360-degree circle divided into 12 houses, each house representing a different area of life. The first house begins wherever the ascendant or rising sign is located, and the rest of the houses follow from there. So let's do a quick walkthrough of all 12.

The first house. This is the house of self and identity. This is how we present ourselves to the world. It's the mask we wear and how people first see us. Think physical body appearance, first impressions. Then the second house. This is the house of our values, our possessions, our things, and how we earn money.

It's about our relationship to our resources and what we consider valuable.  Then the third house. This is the house of communication, local travel siblings, and daily mental activities. These are the house rules: thinking, speaking, writing, and texting. It's how we connect to others day to day. Then the fourth house. This is the house of home, family, ancestry, and emotional roots.

This is your childhood home, your sense of safety, and what home means to you. It can also be your current home. The fifth house. This is the house of creativity, of romance, of children, play, and self-expression. This is the house of dating, fun, and artistic pursuits.

Hobbies are here in this house, the sixth house. This is the House of Daily Habits. It's your routines, your daily work environment, and your health. Also, service and small pets. This house shows how we take care of the day-to-day. These first six houses are considered more personal. They sit below the horizon line of the chart, and they relate to your inner life.

Now the upper half of the chart houses seven through 12. These houses are more about your outer world and your relationship with others. So the seventh house is the house of partnerships of all kinds—marriage, business partners, or anyone with whom you're forming a one-on-one bond. The eighth house.

This is the house of shared resources of intimacy and of transformation. This is the house of merging, whether that's money, bodies, or energy. It also rules inheritance, death, taxes, and rebirth. The ninth house. This is the house of long-distance travel, of higher education, philosophy, and belief systems.

This house governs our search for meaning and our willingness to explore both physically and mentally. The 10th house is the house of career, reputation, and legacy. It's how you're known in the world,  your ambition,  your achievements,  and your public life. The 11th house.  This is the House of Community Groups,  friendships, social causes, and your broader network.

This is your role in the collective in society. The 12th house. This is the house of solitude, of quiet, the unconscious, your spiritual connection, and what's hidden. This is the most mystical house associated with dreams, intuition, and sometimes self-sabotage. Okay, so that was a lot of information. Feel free to rewind and re-listen to it, especially if you know your chart and wanna start figuring this out.

 So what do we do with this information? Well, here's the key: the placement of planets within the houses. In your chart, please tell us which areas of life will be your primary focus. I have the majority of my planets in the third and ninth houses. That's all about communication, travel, local and long-distance education, and broadcasting.

And sure enough, I've had a decades-long career in sales, traveling locally every day in my car to make sales calls.  That was the third house, and now I'm teaching podcasting and consulting. Communicating more broadly, over longer distances. Very ninth house. Here's another example. My son Will has a significant concentration of energy in his 11th house.

He has four planets in one house, so I know that. 11th house themes of friendships, teamwork, and community life. These are gonna be big life themes for him. Knowing that helps me guide him. So when he comes to me for advice periodically, I'm not pushing him in a direction that goes against his energetic blueprint.

I'm guiding him toward a path that aligns with how his natural energy wants to flow. Once you understand which houses are emphasized in your own chart, you get a clearer sense of the significant life themes your soul signed up to explore. So if you've ever wondered why one area of your life keeps coming up, there's probably something important sitting in that house.

One more question that almost always comes up in every reading I do, but what if I have a house that has no planets in it? Well, guess what? We all have at least two houses with no planets in them. Often, more than that. Because there are 12 houses and only 10 planets, and when I say planets, I'm counting everything except Earth, plus the Sun and the Moon.

My scientist-of-a-father would call me immediately after listening if I didn't put that disclaimer out there.  Yes, Dad, I know there are not 10 planets.  There are nine, including Earth. And yes, I do count Pluto. It's actually a ridiculous reason, in my opinion, why Pluto got demoted.

We'll take a quick sidetrack here, if you're interested. It's because Pluto has an irregular orbit that intersects Neptune's orbit, and therefore no longer fits the criteria for a planet. You have to have your own independent orbit.

I assure you, whether or not you consider Pluto a planet, Pluto is still mighty. He'll get his own episode one of these days. We also count the two lights—the Sun and the moon—which I also know, scientifically, are not planets. Still, we call them planets in astrology just because it makes things simpler.

With only 10 planetary bodies and 12 houses, that's totally normal. You will always have empty homes, and when you wanna get an idea about how you approach that area of your life. Just look at what sign begins that house, and that gives us information about how you approach those particular areas of life.

It's cool, really, and dead on. So, Ms. Ava, thank you for this fantastic question. I know many people are thrilled to listen to this and gain a better understanding of these houses. Like I said, this was a lot of information. Feel free to listen again, and if you want to know which houses are the most activated in your chart, visit my website at www.astrologywithelisa.com and book a reading with me.

My scheduling site is up. And we are officially now in cancer season, which is the season of nurturing yourself and others. So encourage yourself and treat yourself to a reading. I can't wait to explore your personal blueprint together. Thanks again for listening, and keep those questions coming. Take care, and I'll see you next time.

   📍   Astrology isn't just about signs and symbols; it's a tool for navigating real life. Hello and welcome to Astrology with Alisa. I'm your host, Alisa Dixon, and I'm so glad you're here. Let's dive in.

 I had a listener question come in recently that really deserves its own episode, because honestly, to answer it, I need to lay a little more foundation a few times. Now, I've casually mentioned the astrological houses, like when I said I have my moon in the first house, which means I'm close with my mother, or the week my podcast went missing, when I mentioned the Saturn-Neptune energy hitting my third house of communication.

Or when I mentioned the Pluto Mars argument in the sky landing in my first and seventh houses, which made things a little tense between me and my husband, or whenever I invite you to book a reading with me to go deeper and see where specific energies are showing up in your own life. I've scratched the surface of the idea of the houses.

So when a listener reached out and asked me to explain the houses. What are they and what do they mean? I got excited to dive in. So let's start with some basics. The planets in astrology are the core energies of the birth chart. The Sun is our essence, our vitality, and how we shine in the world. The moon is our emotional world.

What we need to feel safe and secure. Mercury rules our thoughts and communication. Venus is love, pleasure, and money. Okay, Mars is action, energy, and drive. Jupiter is expansion, growth, and faith. Saturn is structure, boundaries, and responsibility. Uranus is innovation, breakthroughs, and surprises. Neptune is dreams, idealism, and surrender.

Pluto is transformation and personal power. So, in a nutshell, that's the planetary energy itself. The zodiac sign a planet is in describes how that energy is expressed. Is it fiery and bold like Aries? Is it emotional and nurturing like cancer? Is it precise and analytical? Like Virgo, you get the idea.

 Then the houses show where the energy shows up in your life. The birth chart is a 360-degree circle divided into 12 houses, each house representing a different area of life. The first house begins wherever the ascendant or rising sign is located, and the rest of the houses follow from there. So let's do a quick walkthrough of all 12.

The first house. This is the house of self and identity. This is how we present ourselves to the world. It's the mask we wear and how people first see us. Think physical body appearance, first impressions. Then the second house. This is the house of our values, our possessions, our things, and how we earn money.

It's about our relationship to our resources and what we consider valuable.  Then the third house. This is the house of communication, local travel siblings, and daily mental activities. These are the house rules: thinking, speaking, writing, and texting. It's how we connect to others day to day. Then the fourth house. This is the house of home, family, ancestry, and emotional roots.

This is your childhood home, your sense of safety, and what home means to you. It can also be your current home. The fifth house. This is the house of creativity, of romance, of children, play, and self-expression. This is the house of dating, fun, and artistic pursuits.

Hobbies are here in this house, the sixth house. This is the House of Daily Habits. It's your routines, your daily work environment, and your health. Also, service and small pets. This house shows how we take care of the day-to-day. These first six houses are considered more personal. They sit below the horizon line of the chart, and they relate to your inner life.

Now the upper half of the chart houses seven through 12. These houses are more about your outer world and your relationship with others. So the seventh house is the house of partnerships of all kinds—marriage, business partners, or anyone with whom you're forming a one-on-one bond. The eighth house.

This is the house of shared resources of intimacy and of transformation. This is the house of merging, whether that's money, bodies, or energy. It also rules inheritance, death, taxes, and rebirth. The ninth house. This is the house of long-distance travel, of higher education, philosophy, and belief systems.

This house governs our search for meaning and our willingness to explore both physically and mentally. The 10th house is the house of career, reputation, and legacy. It's how you're known in the world,  your ambition,  your achievements,  and your public life. The 11th house.  This is the House of Community Groups,  friendships, social causes, and your broader network.

This is your role in the collective in society. The 12th house. This is the house of solitude, of quiet, the unconscious, your spiritual connection, and what's hidden. This is the most mystical house associated with dreams, intuition, and sometimes self-sabotage. Okay, so that was a lot of information. Feel free to rewind and re-listen to it, especially if you know your chart and wanna start figuring this out.

 So what do we do with this information? Well, here's the key: the placement of planets within the houses. In your chart, please tell us which areas of your life will be your primary focus, for example, as in my chart. I have the majority of my planets in the third and ninth houses. That's all about communication, travel, local and long-distance education, and broadcasting.

And sure enough, I've had a decades-long career in sales, traveling locally every day in my car to make sales calls.  That was the third house, and now I'm teaching podcasting and consulting. Communicating more broadly, over longer distances. Very ninth house. Here's another example. My son Will has a significant concentration of energy in his 11th house.

He has four planets in one house, so I know that. 11th house themes of friendships, teamwork, and community life. These are gonna be big life themes for him. Knowing that helps me guide him. So when he comes to me for advice periodically, I'm not pushing him in a direction that goes against his energetic blueprint.

I'm guiding him toward a path that aligns with how his natural energy wants to flow. Once you understand which houses are emphasized in your own chart, you get a clearer sense of the significant life themes your soul signed up to explore. So if you've ever wondered why one area of your life keeps coming up, there's probably something important sitting in that house.

One more question that almost always comes up in every reading I do, but what if I have a house that has no planets in it? Well, guess what? We all have at least two houses with no planets in them. Often, more than that. Because there are 12 houses and only 10 planets, and when I say planets, I'm counting everything except Earth, plus the Sun and the Moon.

My scientist-of-a-father would call me immediately after listening if I didn't put that disclaimer out there.  Yes, Dad, I know there are not 10 planets.  There are nine, including Earth. And yes, I do count Pluto. It's actually a ridiculous reason, in my opinion, why Pluto got demoted.

We'll take a quick sidetrack here, if you're interested. It's because Pluto has an irregular orbit that intersects Neptune's orbit, and therefore no longer fits the criteria for a planet. You have to have your own independent orbit.

I can assure you, whether or not you consider Pluto a planet, Pluto is still mighty. He'll get his own episode one of these days. We also count the two lights—the Sun and the moon—which I also know, scientifically, are not planets. Still, we call them planets in astrology just because it makes things simpler.

With only 10 planetary bodies and 12 houses, that's totally normal. You will always have empty homes, and when you wanna get an idea about how you approach that area of your life. Just look at what sign begins that house, and that gives us information about how you approach 📍 those particular areas of life.

It's cool, really, and dead on. So, Ms. Ava, thank you for this fantastic question. I know many people are thrilled to listen to this and gain a better understanding of these houses. Like I said, this was a lot of information. Feel free to listen again, and if you want to know which houses are the most activated in your chart, visit my website at www.astrologywithelisa.com and book a reading with me.

My scheduling site is up. And we are officially now in cancer season, which is the season of nurturing yourself and others. So encourage yourself and treat yourself to a reading. I can't wait to explore your personal blueprint together. Thanks again for listening, and keep those questions coming. Take care, and I'll see you next time.