The 12 houses (Bhavas)

Where in your life does it happen?

The houses are twelve areas of life. They are fixed to the moment of birth by the ascendant (or lagna): the sign that was rising on the eastern horizon when you were born. That sign becomes your 1st house, the next sign your 2nd house, and so on round the circle. Because the Earth turns, the sky seems to turn too, and a new sign rises about every two hours. That is why two people born on the same day, a few hours apart, have completely different charts, and why your birth time matters so much.

What "rising" means: the sign on the eastern horizon is your 1st house, the one overhead your 10th, the one setting in the west your 7th.

twelve rooms in a house. The planets are the people; the house number tells you which room they are standing in: the kitchen (money), the office (career), the bedroom (marriage).

In the North Indian chart used across India, the houses never move: house 1 is always the diamond at the top, and the houses count anticlockwise from there. What changes from person to person is which sign sits in each house.

The twelve houses on a North Indian chart, each with the area of life it covers. House 1 is you.

Houses also come in families. The kendras (1, 4, 7, 10) are the pillars that hold a life up. The trikonas (1, 5, 9) are the houses of luck and purpose. The dusthanas (6, 8, 12) are the houses of hard lessons. The upachayas (3, 6, 10, 11) are houses that get better with time and effort.

The four families of houses. House 1 is both a pillar and a house of luck, which is why the ascendant matters most.

1st houseYou: your body, looks, health habits and personality.

2nd houseMoney you keep, family, food and the way you speak.

3rd houseCourage, effort, siblings, short trips and communication.

4th houseHome, mother, comfort, vehicles and inner peace.

5th houseIntelligence, creativity, romance and children.

6th houseDaily work, habits, rivals and problems to solve.

7th houseMarriage, partners and close agreements.

8th houseBig changes, secrets, research and inheritance.

9th houseLuck, dharma, father, teachers and higher learning.

10th houseCareer, status and what you are known for.

11th houseGains, friends, networks and wishes fulfilled.

12th houseSpending, rest, foreign lands and letting go.

More families of houses

Kendra · 1, 4, 7, 10Angles: the pillars. Planets here act strongly and visibly.

Panaphara · 2, 5, 8, 11"Succeeding" houses: what the angles build up and store.

Apoklima · 3, 6, 9, 12"Falling away" houses: change, movement and letting go. Planets here act more quietly.

Trishadaya · 3, 6, 11Houses of desire and striving. Their lords are said to stir restlessness.

Maraka · 2, 7"Killer" houses in the old texts, read only for health caution in timing. AstroMatch4u never predicts death.

BadhakaThe house of obstacles: the 11th for a movable rising sign, the 9th for a fixed one, the 7th for a dual one.

Finally the twelve houses fall into four groups of three for the four aims of life, the purusharthas:

Dharma · 1, 5, 9Purpose, right action

Artha · 2, 6, 10Work and wealth

Kama · 3, 7, 11Desire and relationships

Moksha · 4, 8, 12Inner peace and freedom

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