The 12 houses are division of the sky used in astrology to denote 12 distinct areas of life. where each house begins is called a cusp.

what is the role of a house?

each planet has supposed attributes and the location of a planet within the houses can give perspective on how these attributes are exercised within the different areas of our lives.

for example:

• venus can be interpreted as physical attraction, the sense of aesthetics, and human relationships.
• the 1st house represents how we are perceived by people around us, the outward personality and ego, the appearance, the termperament.

so a person with venus within the 1st house may be perceived by others to be of great beauty and grace. they will be friendly and outgoing.

what do each of the houses mean?

• The 1st House - The House of Self-Interest
• The 2nd House - The House of Money and Possessions
• The 3rd House - The House of Communication
• The 4th House - The House of Home
• The 5th House - The House of Pleasure
• The 6th House - The House of Health
• The 7th House - The House of Partnership
• The 8th House - The House of Death (The House of Sex)
• The 9th House - The House of Philosophy
• The 10th House - The House of Career
• The 11th House - The House of Friends
• The 12th House - The House of the Unconscious

how are the houses determined?

the houses are not determined by any astronomical factors. they are static and do not move. no matter what time of day it is, the ascendant (the 1st house cusp) is always the eastern horizon and the descendant (the 7th house cusp) is always the western horizon. if you look straight up into the sky you are looking at the 10th house cusp.

                          | midheaven
                          |
                   .------+------.
                  /  \ 10 | 9  /  \
                 / 11 \   |   /  8 \
                /._    \  |  /    _.\
               /   "._  \ | /  _."   \
              | 12    "._\|/_."    7  |
ascendant ----+----------:+:----------+---- descendant
              | 1     _."/|\"._    6  |
               \   _."  / | \  "._   /
                \."    /  |  \    "./
                 \ 2  /   |   \  5 /
                  \  /  3 | 4  \  /
                   `------+------'
                          |  
                          | nadir

it may be easier to understand the houses if we take a real world example:

• i was born at 8:12am. shortly after sunrise. the sun was just above the eastern horizon at the time of my birth. so the sun would be placed in my birth chart within the 12th house, just above the ascendant.