Hello beautiful people of Expansive Capacity! Happy Woo-Woo Wednesday, lovely ones!

Again, it’s time to break out your charts — create one at the FREE horoscopes (natal chart) area at Astro.com — as we take a tour through the houses.

The houses are the WHERE in the WHAT happens (planet), HOW it happens (sign), WHERE (house) formula. 😉 That’ll make more sense during this month’s Zoom, of course.

For example, you’ve heard me say “my Venus is afflicted in Leo.” Let’s break that down with the help of the house it’s all in. VENUS is what happens (love, value, beauty), LEO is how it happens (ego, power, sense of self), 11th HOUSE is where it happens (goals, sense of purpose, especially in groups of people).

So… I grew up seeking approval (ego = Leo) of my peers (11th house) and deciding it meant I was unloved (Venus) when I didn’t get elected class president or when I didn’t get the lead in the school play.

Because of the affliction, I had to go OUTSIDE friends, peers (school) to get validated (ego) doing what I loved (acting) as a kid. As an adult, I’ve learned how to focus my attention on the ideals of the 11th house, calm down my ego and serve the Leo through power rather than pride, and define love from what I provide for myself first… what everyone else shares with me is a bonus.

Make sense?

Now, the reason we haven’t tackled houses as a full Woo-Woo Wednesday topic yet in Expansive Capacity is because there’s each house ruled by a planet and represented by a sign “naturally” (like, if we were just looking at the universe itself, and not how it is interpreted through any individual’s birth data). So, while I’m going to share below which house is ruled by which planet and which natural sign resides in each house, you’ll have to look at YOUR chart (just like I did, in the example above) to determine what signs and planets are in which houses for YOUR birthplace, date, and time. (You may also wish to revisit the tour we did of all the planets here.)

The first house is the house of SELF. It is ruled by Mars and its natural sign is Aries. This makes sense of course because Aries is great at starting things. Mars is very action-oriented. Numerologically, a 1 is a starting-things/taking-action energy. So you can remember this one easily. 😉 Note that your rising sign sits on the cusp of your first house. It’s how you come across, how you’re seen in the world.

The second house is the house of SECURITY. It is ruled by Venus and its natural sign is Taurus. We know that Taurus loves to plan and invest and make home comfortable. And Venus is the planet of love and beauty and values. That all goes quite nicely with security, doesn’t it? Issues of self-worth and flat-out finances show up here, but always with a root of security.

The third house is the house of COMMUNICATION. It is ruled by Mercury (the planet of communication — we remember this because of how we miscommunicate during Mercury retrograde). Its natural sign is Gemini (the chattiest of all signs). Look specifically into how thoughts are formed, how you interact in your primary relationships, and what feels natural for your expression.

The fourth house is the house of HOME. It is ruled by the moon and its natural sign is Cancer. Ask any Cancer: The moon has greater pull on us than anything else and of course Cancer is everybody’s grandma. We’re homebodies because we make it really comfy ’round here. Everyone feels at home when we let them in. This is where we’re maternal, rooted in our ancestry, and how we feel safe. (BTW, I have Capricorn in my 4th house. This is why WORK makes me feel safe.)

The fifth house is the house of CREATION. It is ruled by the sun and its natural sign is Leo. This is where we play, make love, use our creative genius to build new things with others, and love basking while we do it. Numerologically, 5 is play and rebellion. No shock how well that fits here. Since this is the most entertaining space, our setpoint for romance and our love of fun are here.

The sixth house is the house of WORK. It is ruled by Mercury (yes, again) and its natural sign is Virgo, our hardest worker of an Earth sign, very conscientious about her duties. Health also lives in this house, and that’s well aligned with the numerology of 6 (repair). Our vibe for self-help and growth, our interest in what we put into our bodies, and the rituals of our daily life live here.

The seventh house is the house of PARTNERSHIP. It is ruled by Venus (yep, once more) and its natural sign is Libra, the sign that always sees all sides of every argument, is diplomatic enough to make any relationship work, and is on a quest for partnership for life. With Venus being all about love, yeah, this works quite well. Our marriage or romantic partnerships live here, as do very close non-romantic partnerships.

The eighth house is the house of SECRETS, TRANSFORMATIONS, and RESOURCES. It is ruled by Pluto, the planet of revealing secrets and unearthing truths. Its natural sign is Scorpio, a sign that is obsessed with getting to the bottom of things, learning what’s hidden about everyone and everything, and deep connection with carnal needs. Crisis management is here. This is how we handle change. Addictions? They’re here. And this is also the house of other people’s money (lottery winnings, inheritance, severance, spousal support, etc.).

The ninth house is the house of TRAVEL, BELIEFS, and HIGHER LEARNING. It is ruled by Jupiter (how we get lucky, our magic, prosperity) and its natural sign is Sagittarius (a sign all about flow and freedom and discovery and philosophy). Here’s where your sense of adventure, your personal and religious beliefs, and quest for connecting with other cultures hang out.

The tenth house is the house of CAREER. This is where we look at a chart to see how you’re going to succeed, what your reputation is, and how powerful you’ll be. We’ll get into the midheaven (MC) part of things later, but know that the tenth house is a great place to look for how you will show up in your life’s work. Your ambition. Your drive. Not surprisingly, the tenth house is ruled by Saturn (our destiny, the dad planet that tells us how it’s gonna be) and its natural sign is Capricorn (the leader of the leaders, as an “I’ve got it all covered” cardinal sign). Note: When your sun is in the 10th house (no matter how shy that sign may tend to be) your confidence is on lock! (*waves* Hai, y’all. It me!)

The eleventh house is the house of IDEALS and ORGANIZATIONS. It is ruled by Uranus (the innovator, the unconventional progress-creator) and its natural sign is Aquarius (the champion of the weird, the chill and detached communicator of new things). Look here for how you show up among friends and colleagues, in groups, and where aspirations are concerned.

The twelfth house is the house of YOUR UNDOING and YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS. It is ruled by Neptune (where blindspots get revealed) and its natural sign is Pisces (the dreamiest of all the signs, living in multiple realities [none of them REAL] at all times). This is that karmic block that annoyingly gets in our way until we lean into its secret strength. We did a deep dive on the 12th house a few months back, you may recall.

We also took a look at where your SUN is, house-wise, a while back. Revisit that Woo-Woo Wednesday here and see how that ties in with what you’ve learned here today.

Phew! That’s a lot, right? And we haven’t even touched all the combinations of what it means when you look at YOUR chart — natal and progressed — through the lens of the houses. We’ll jam about all this and our December topic of Your Relationship with Happiness over in the comments at the dojo. If you haven’t already done so, also head there to register for our Zoom mastermind, of course!

All my love,

Enoughness is an inside job… and sometimes you need a guide to find your way there. Let Bonnie Gillespie get you started.