You know about the aspects between planets. Let’s dive into the natural “aspects” or relationships between the houses—how some areas of life are supportive of or flow with other areas of life. And how some areas of life pose challenges to developing other areas of life. This can be a great foundation when looking at any chart—to know how the houses interact with one another, how the signs color that interaction, and how the planets add their agenda to that interaction.
I’ve never seen this written about anywhere at length. So I wrote it myself. May it make your natal chart readings easier!
The Sextile; opportunity
1st house to 3rd house: The 1st house of identity and appearance is invigorated by the 3rd house of communication and familiarity. To communicate who you are. The way you see and perceive the world has an impact on who you are. Your early surroundings, schooling, and environments can shape who you are. Alternatively, the 3rd house is stimulated by the personality of the 1st. To have a unique voice and story to tell. The familiar faces in the 3rd house may be the first audience to whom we perform ourselves. Our appearance may be shaped by our surroundings (i.e., wearing what you see people at school wearing, or rebelling against it)
2nd house to 4th house: The 2nd house of material and immaterial security is supported by the 4th house of home, roots, foundation, and privacy. Acts of self-care may be performed in the sanctuary of home. Our relationship to value and material may be informed by the family we are born into. To feel rooted in the 4th house supports the growth of confidence in the 2nd house. Alternatively, the means we gain in the 2nd house may afford us home and privacy, or otherwise help us earn a sense of groundedness or belonging.
3rd house to 5th house: The 3rd house of communication and familiarity is supported by the 5th house of creativity, play and pleasure. All creative endeavors may start first with a unique point of view. Play and recreation can keep the mind fresh, and open to receive new information. We may first play in our immediate environments. The 5th house also supports the 3rd house by turning insight into expression. Children are very expressive and speak their mind freely.
4th house to 6th house: The 4th house of home, roots, foundation and privacy is supported by the 6th house of health, routine, service and mastery of skill. Being able to perform service to the world is enhanced by having a private and personal space to recharge in. Some may fall into trades that have a family lineage (i.e., coming from a long line of cobblers or actors). Our illnesses may be hereditary, and we are first modeled how to tend to our health by our parents. Standing proudly in our personal culture and ancestry may inform the work we wish to do in the world.
5th house to 7th house: The 5th house of creativity, play and pleasure is supported by the 7th house of others. Having fun with another person can be additive. Or some may wish to enjoy life with a partner, best friend, or confidant. Partnership itself may be the pleasure. Flirtation, dating and romance may be a delightful precursor to partnership. Our creations are enhanced when they are witnessed and received by others, or when we are able to share the process of creation with another (collaboration). It takes two to make a child.
6th house to 8th house: The 6th house of health, routine, service and mastery of skill is supported by the 8th house of shared assets, the occult, intimacy and complexity. The depth of the service we offer the world may be enhanced by a willingness to peer into the self. Compensation for a job comes from an employer with whom you share an implicit contract, and through whom you pay taxes. If you are the employer, you may be involved in large and complex transactions on behalf of another. Occult interests may turn into daily practice or devotions. Our physical health may be impacted by the baggage we carry or may be enhanced by closeness with another. To become deeply enmeshed with the work you do.
7th house to 9th house: The 7th house of others is supported by the 9th house of foreign experience, education, philosophy, and faith. Other people may support our discovery of meaning in the 9th house—partners, teachers, friends. Interactions with other human beings can spur experience and wisdom. The people we meet along the way inevitably factor into how we make sense of the human experience. Relationships are schools. To learn of a different culture takes willingness to sit down with or learn from others.
8th house to 10th house: The 8th house of shared assets, the occult, intimacy, and complexity is supported by the 10th house of reputation, legacy, and public image. The work we do on ourselves in the 8th house may show up in the character we portray at large. Intimate bonds may shape the trajectory of our lives. Occult work may be used to affect a real-world accomplishment or mission. And the investments we make in ourselves, financially and otherwise, may galvanize us into embodying the life we aspire to.
9th house to 11th house: The 9th house of foreign experience, education, philosophy, and faith is supported by the 11th house of networks, groups, and allies. We may perform our faith with groups of people (i.e., church, seminars, workshops). The education and experience we gain in the 9th house may find us with groups of people who have similar experience. To learn of the world helps us take focus off the self and put it onto the group. Our faith systems may make us sensitive to particular societal issues. We may campaign on ideologies and world views that are formed in the 9th house. We tend to seek out people who confirm our beliefs.
10th house to 12th house: The 10th house of reputation, legacy and public image is supported by the 12th house of loss, mental and spiritual health, and isolation. We may become moved to take certain actions in the world based on intuition. Our mission in the world may be born out of a need to help, support or heal. People, places, and things that leave our lives make necessary space for us to become wise to our true path. No accomplishment comes without sacrifice or surrender. Expressing the 12th house productively heals the tendency to become inert or self-destructive. Tending to our mental health may help us show up brighter in the world.
11th house to 1st house: The 11th house of networks, groups, and allies supports the 1st house of identity and appearance. We express ourselves within the groups who accept and receive those expressions. We may come more into ourselves with the support of a community of others. We may be compelled to distinguish ourselves amidst the population at large. The 11th house is where we give the offering of ourselves.
12th house to 2nd house: The 12th house of loss, mental and spiritual health, and isolation supports the 2nd house of material and immaterial security. Through loss or isolation, we may come to figure out what we truly value. We learn that money and status isn’t everything. Contact with the divine may help us locate our own divinity, and the value that we intrinsically have. Isolation may teach us self-reliance. Pouring into our own cup helps us to pour into others. We may use our own material abundance to uplift and support the unsupported. Philanthropy and charity.
The Square; cross-purposes
1st house to 4th house: The 1st house of identity and appearance may be impeded by the 4th house of home, roots, foundation, and privacy, and vice versa. Our families may malign our individuality or force us to live according to expectation. We may not have been allowed to be our full selves growing up. Or the conditions we endured growing up may have forced us to deny our true character. Our origin story and generational traumas may dwarf our ability to be self-assured, confident, and authentic. Our outer self may belie the true depth of our character. To perform a false identity, perhaps out of the fear of being found out or exposed. Alternatively, our responsibility to home or family may limit the freedom we have to be ourselves. Our attention to being perceived by others may be to the detriment of perceiving and being alone with ourselves.
2nd house to 5th house: The 2nd house of material and immaterial security may be impeded by the 5th house of creativity, play and pleasure, and vice versa. It is difficult to make a decent living as a creator. Artists, teachers (of children) and sex workers are not valued writ large. We may not have the income to pursue our passions, and our passions may not make us an income. Some may use sex as a throughway to importance or validation. Focusing too much on living a fun life may detract from creating a life of meaning and substance. We may overindulge with things like shopping or gambling. Taking unnecessary risk that jeopardizes our security.
3rd house to 6th house: The 3rd house of communication and familiarity may be impeded by the 6th house of health, routine, service, and mastery of skill, and vice versa. Our interests in the 3rd house may not parlay into an actual job, and our jobs may not be mentally stimulating. It may be hard to turn ideas into a workable reality. The mentors or information we need to build mastery may not be immediately obvious or available. Duty and responsibility may have a way of squelching out original thought. Work that doesn’t allow us to express all of what we know, or diminishes our feedback. The busyness of the 3rd house may jeopardize our health in the 6th house. The information overwhelm when trying to find a solution or cure to a chronic illness.
4th house to 7th house: The 4th house of home, roots and foundation and privacy may be impeded by the 7th house of others, and vice versa. Our partners may not be accepted by our families, or our partners may not like our families. Responsibility to home and family may jeopardize the bandwidth you have to be with other people. You can never truly know everything about someone. There is an urgency and tension around finding the “right” person to settle down and build a home with. Relationships with in-laws are notoriously wrought with challenge.
5th house to 8th house: The 5th house of creativity, play and pleasure may be impeded by the 8th house of shared assets, the occult, intimacy, and complexity, and vice versa. The tension between lightening up and getting serious. Too much attention to matters of depth, complexity or darkness may be to the detriment of seeing the bright side and enjoying life. Too much attention to having a surface-level and easy experience may be to detriment of acknowledging the depth and complexity of life. Taxes are no fun. Professional artists may have to negotiate with brokers, agents, managers, unable to have immediate access to their money. Dating, flirting and romance may be jeopardized by getting deep or getting attached too quickly. Chronic dating (i.e., the bachelor life) may deprive you of true intimacy and commitment. Authentic expression is the most vulnerable act.
6th house to 9th house: The 6th house of health, routine, service, and mastery of skill may be impeded by the 9th house of foreign experience, education, philosophy, and faith, and vice versa. Our duty to a job or service may limit our freedom to explore the world and its various beliefs and cultures. But constantly being on a quest for meaning may detract from committing to a path of actual service. Sometimes the education and experience we need to get a job is tedious, difficult, or hard to come by. Doing work that has no meaning to you. Getting a degree but being unable to get a respectable job. Having your faith be tested when confronted with the tedium of everyday life. Finding it hard to put faith, theory, and belief into practice or action.
7th house to 10th house: The 7th house of others may be impeded by the 10th house of reputation, legacy, and public image, and vice versa. Our dedication to career and accomplishment may be to the detriment of nourishing healthy relationships. The commitments we have to others may limit our ability to reach towards our goals. Difficult relationships with people in your career or field. Liking the job but not liking the people. Liking the people but not liking the job. Other people may tarnish our hard work and our legacy. Having to let people down, or careers that involve difficult conversations or dynamics with others. Domineering personalities.
8th house to 11th house: The 8th house of shared assets, the occult, intimacy, and complexity may be impeded by the 11th house of networks, groups, and allies, and vice versa. This may demonstrate the tension of being an introvert in an extrovert’s world. Necessary introspection and self-examination that is complicated the societal messages we receive. Having to make the necessary investments to belong to a group or a club, both explicitly and implicitly (i.e., paying dues to receive the perks of belonging to a group or investing in law school to receive the societal status of being a lawyer). The advice of your therapist weighed against the advice from your friends. Occult practices are widely shunned or ridiculed by society at large. The taboos of society that weigh us down but that are routinely ignored. Being involved in community to the detriment of developing intimate one-on-one bonds. Being subsumed by a relationship so that you are effectively alienated from community.
9th house to 12th house: The 9th house of foreign experience, education, philosophy, and faith, may be impeded by the 12th house of loss, mental and spiritual health, and isolation, and vice versa. Rigid beliefs about ourselves and the world may jeopardize our mental health. Or our mental health may limit our ability to freely explore. Feeling burdened by unknown fears and suspicions. The 9th house may be where we fall into beliefs of convention, where in the 12th house we develop a personal religion and relationship to the divine—being unsure which to follow. Loss and hardship may spur crises of faith. 12th house sensitivities being triggered by exposure. The tension between alone time and galivanting. Wandering and also feeling lost.
10th house to 1st house: The 10th house of house of reputation, legacy, and public image may be impeded by the 1st house of identity and appearance, and vice versa. Sometimes the ways we show up in the world aren’t acceptable to the structures we wish to succeed within. The way we appear may limit our potential for worldly success (i.e., not getting hired based on your name or race). The tension between your professional self and your “real” self. The difficulty of finding careers and paths where you can fully be yourself. What you want versus what the world expects of you. To have your humanity be trampled by authoritarian people or regimes.
11th house to 2nd house: The 11th house of networks, groups and allies may be impeded by the 2nd house of material and immaterial security, and vice versa. Sometimes your personal values and the values of society or a community are out of step. The tension of pouring into yourself versus pouring into a group, community, or a cause. Not feeling you have the resources to affect the change you wish to see in the world. The ways certain populations of people have been disenfranchised and impoverished due to the sentiments of society. Wanting validation from a group to the detriment of validating yourself. Alternatively, being too self-involved when invited to contribute meaningfully to the collective.
12th house to 3rd house: The 12th house of loss, mental and spiritual health, and isolation may be impeded by the 3rd house of communication and familiarity, and vice versa. Often, it can be our thoughts that contribute to our self-undoing. Negative thinking. The tension between knowing something on a soul level versus needing to know something on a tangible or intellectual level. The war between what is knowable and what is unknowable. Possibly, the disconnect between head and heart. Busyness in the 3rd house keeps us away from the necessary isolation of the 12th house. Getting quiet enough to hear the whispers of spirit.
The Trine; seamless support
1st house to 5th house: The 1st house of appearance and identity is in harmony with the 5th house of creativity, play and pleasure. What we create in the 5th house leaves evidence of our existence, our unique mark on the world. These creations can take the form of art, children, or even protégés. To live on through what you create. The marriage of self and expression: self-expression. Wholeheartedly engaging in pleasure and play builds a bridge of connection back to ourselves. When we are dating, it is an act of showcasing the self. When we pursue pleasure, it is an act of loving and celebrating the self. When we are enraptured by activities that inspire flow states, we briefly forget about ourselves.
2nd house to 6th house: The 2nd house of material and immaterial security is in harmony with the 6th house of health, routine, service, and mastery of skill. When we become good at and dedicate ourselves to a skill, not only can it provide us an income, but also a sense of importance and value. The confidence we build in the 2nd house enhances how we show up on the job, and the quality of our work. We may also use our own resources to further our service in the 6th house. Caring for and maintaining our health is an act of self-care. Our 2nd house needs—food, shelter, water, sleep, dignity—when tended to daily, pattern themselves into a healthy lifestyle. From there we can keep showing up in the world and keep doing the work.
3rd house to 7th house: The 3rd house of communication and familiarity is in harmony with the 7th house of others. The partners and friends we find in the 7th house may naturally be receptive to our ideas and thoughts. Relationships thrive on healthy communication. Overtime, the bonds we form with people in the 7th house create a sense of familiarity or family. Or the people we keep bumping into become lifelong partners. Opinions thrive on being communicated to others, even if they do not agree. Other people can help us reframe or rethink how we see things or challenge us to grow and learn.
4th house to 8th house: The 4th house of home, roots, foundation, and privacy is in harmony with the 8th house of shared assets, the occult, intimacy, and complexity. The introspection we do in the 8th house is supported by the privacy of the 4th house. Naturally, we may engage in occult practices at home. For some, occult practices and psychic sensitivities are inherited from family, or supported by ancestral work. Inheritances tend to come from family--homes, land, or even the continuance of a legacy. The foundation of the 4th house can also provide a sense of safety and refuge when dealing with the complexities of the 8th house.
5th house to 9th house: The 5th house of creativity, play and pleasure is in harmony with the 9th house of foreign experience, education, philosophy, and faith. For some, education, philosophy, and faith are simply uplifting and enhancive. Travel, adventure, and education can support and deepen the joy we have for life. The 9th house gives meaning to 5th house creations. In the 9th house, we are also exposed to many other avenues through which to enjoy life. If the 5th house is where we experience sensory and physical pleasure, the 9th house is where that pleasure expands into mental or cerebral territory, giving us a more robust experience of indulgence and gratification.
6th house to 10th house: The 6th house of health, routine, service and mastery of skill is in harmony with the 10th house of reputation, legacy and public image. The success we envision for ourselves in the 10th house is made possible by the day-to-day work we do in the 6th house. This is the seamless route from vocation to career. Taking ourselves and our work seriously is what will, overtime, lead to worldly accomplishment, recognition, and respect. Likewise, the image we create in the 10th house is made more meaningful by the attention to detail and competence in the 6th house. To be known for something that enhances the lives of others. Taking care of our bodies and creating sustainable systems also enhances our ability to reach for our goals.
7th house to 11th house: The 7th house of others is in harmony with the 11th house of networks, groups, and allies. Our involvement in community can introduce us to meaningful people with whom we create meaningful connections. The causes we align ourselves with may put us in contact with the individuals who we desire to help or uplift (i.e., a politician sits down to talk with a veteran). Alternatively, the partnerships we form in the 7th house can benefit from a shared vision and direction. We may get along better with people with whom we have shared goals.
8th house to 12th house: The 8th house of shared assets, the occult, intimacy, and complexity is in harmony with the 12th house of loss, mental and spiritual health, and isolation. Both of these houses exalt the importance of reflection and being witness to your life. Our emotional bodies are wise counsellors and listening to them requires silence and isolation. The mental, spiritual, or emotional healing we receive in the 12th house can clear up our 8th house baggage. And the work we do on ourselves in the 8th house benefits from the intuitive wisdom of the 12th house. The attention we give to our 8th house wounds becomes the attention we can offer others’ woundedness in the 12th house. Occult practices can put us in touch with what we consider divine. Ultimate intimacy with another benefits from surrender.
9th house to 1st house: The 9th house of foreign experience, education, philosophy, and faith is in harmony with the 1st house of identity and appearance. The more we learn of the world, the more we learn of ourselves and our place in it. The 9th house supports the development of character by encouraging adventure, education, and experience. And the 1st house is the vessel through which the 9th house wisdom becomes expressed. We use religion, faith and philosophy to learn more about ourselves. In the search for truth, we find our own.
10th house to 2nd house: The 10th house of reputation, legacy and public image is in harmony with the 2nd house of material and immaterial security. The more importance or recognition we gain the world, the stronger our convictions will be about our worth and value. Achievements can win you resources and upward mobility. Money and resource can also help you on your way towards achievement. So can a healthy dose of confidence. The 2nd house is where we matter to ourselves, and that is enhanced by the 10th house, where we matter to others. Holding steadfast to a personal set of principles or values can also make clear the path to success, without having to take routes that compromise our integrity.
11th house to 3rd house: The 11th house of networks, groups and allies is in harmony with the 3rd house of communication and familiarity. Communication and free exchange of thought enhances any community or group endeavor. Individual opinion in the 3rd house eliminates potential for groupthink. The 11th house introduces to us to an audience upon which we can present our thoughts and ideas. Yet can also provide a healthy variety of viewpoints that stimulate thinking in the 3rd house. We may tend to be more expressive with groups of people that welcome or mirror our perceptions. The 3rd house is where we formulate ideas, and the 11th house allows us turn ideas into vision.
12th house to 4th house: The 12th house of loss, mental and spiritual health, and isolation is in harmony with the 4th house of home, roots and foundation and privacy. Privacy is isolation with intention. Sacred isolation. No better place to be isolated than home. In the quiet and comfort of our personal space, we can commune with the shadows of the 12th house. The emotions sourced from the stillness of alone time can help us acknowledge and feel through what is otherwise locked up and shoved away. This may also support a deep spiritual connection to our home, family, land, and ancestors, from which we can receive ultimate catharsis. Spirituality and spiritual practice may also help us feel deeper into ourselves and understand our own motivations. The 4th house provides an easy setting for 12th house work.
The Opposition; tug of war
1st house to 7th house: The 1st house of identity and appearance conflicts with the 7th house of others. This is the classic war between autonomy and deference, independence and dependence, me and you. Other people can create obstacles to us being ourselves. We can also deny ourselves in favor of being there for others. This axis represents the pull between relying on yourself versus relying on others. Knowing when to stand your ground and knowing when to play diplomat.
2nd house to 8th house: The 2nd house of material and immaterial security conflicts with the 8th house of shared assets, the occult, intimacy, and complexity. This axis represents the pull between what is mine in the 2nd house and what is yours or ours in the 8th house. The 2nd house breeds self-sufficiency, where the 8th house can ask us to rely or share with outside entities or persons. The 2nd house is cash on hand. The 8th house is credit and debts. The 2nd house is where we focus on the physical—food, shelter, water. The 8th house is where we contemplate the metaphysical—cycles, the inner workings of our mind, peering beyond the veil, where we go after we die. The 8th house can be an unstable and scary place. The 2nd house is where we go to build stability, out from the psychological complexities and horrors of the 8th house. The 8th house is where we go to seek profundity and confront fears, out from the material indolence of the 2nd house.
3rd house to 9th house: The 3rd house of communication and familiarity conflicts with the 9th house of foreign experience, education, philosophy, and faith. The 3rd house is where we create the building blocks of knowledge—reading, writing and arithmetic. The 9th house is where we build upon that 3rd house knowledge and choose the subject(s) we want to study (i.e., elementary school versus college), and/or where we delve into philosophical and abstract thought. This axis represents the pull between perfunctory knowledge, opinion, and immediate surroundings in the 3rd house versus wisdom, belief, and exploration in the 9th house.
4th house to 10th house: The 4th house of home, roots and foundation and privacy conflicts with the 10th house of reputation, legacy, and public image. The 4th house is where we do family, and the 10th house is where we do career. The 4th house may be where we are our honest selves, where the 10th house can be a sort of persona or projection. The 4th house may also represent ways in which we play small and go along with what has been prescribed to us by family, tradition, or culture. In the 10th house, we play big and make our own way in the world.
5th house to 11th house: The 5th house of creativity, play and pleasure conflicts the with 11th house of networks, groups, and allies. The 5th house is where we are motivated by self-interest—what feels good to us. In the 11th house, there is more focus on serving the group or the collective. The 5th house may be where we stand out as ourselves, and the 11th house where we fall into a community role or strive to fit in. If 5th house is the creation, then the 11th house is the audience for that creation, where that creation goes to get validated, and hopefully where it can also serve a collective purpose. But sometimes creating is for the sake of creating, or for the joy of creating, and the 11th house can interfere with that process by creating an expectation of applause.
6th house to 12th house: The 6th house of health, routine, service, and mastery of skill conflicts with the 12th house of loss, mental and spiritual health, and isolation. The 6th house is where we get to work in the real world, and the 12th house is where we disappear into our inner world. The 6th house may imply physical healing or tangible service, where the 12th house is more about emotional healing and intangible service (i.e., prayer, or simply showing up with empathy). The 6th house requires us to tend to our physical systems of support—exercise, diet, check-ups. The 12th house asks for us to tend to our spiritual systems of support—meditation, sanctuary, contemplation, and sufficient emotional boundaries.